In September there was some absolutely brilliant news around Spotify planning on acquiring Soundcloud. Many thought it would be the best move for Soundcloud, as the once giant atop the streaming game has been struggling to stay relevant in the face of other platforms now supporting unlicensed remixes. Unfortunately Tech Crunch reported that Spotify has killed acquisition talks. In an odd twist of fate, the unlicensed remix library that Soundcloud holds might be exactly what ended talks.
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The source in the above linked article states that Spotify ultimately decided to end talks because of their rapidly approaching IPO and fear that the licensing headache that bringing on Soundcloud will create might negatively effect their launch to the public market. The licensing insanity would come from Soundcloud being a haven for indie artists of all genres. It would make such a large amount of work for the company that it won't be able to focus on much else, and in turn possibly making it seem stale for investors during a time where they will need them the most. While Spotify's IPO is still speculation in the most technical sense of the word, you can look forward to buying stocks for the streaming leader at some point in 2017
