About a month ago we reported news that Spotify pulled out of talks with Soundcloud about a possible acquisition. This came as solemn news to many has the possibility of Spotify taking over the struggling Soundcloud was music to most streaming fan's ears. The streaming giant decided to cut the talks in fear of the acquisition harming their IPO. Today we got news that another tech giant was interested in acquiring Soundcloud – Google.
Music Business Worldwide has reported that Google is now the latest company considering purchasing the Berlin based company. This comes with a major blow to the price tag which Spotify was offering of $1 Billion as Google is reported to only be offering about half.
It is interesting that Google should be the latest company which Soundcloud is courting as Soundcloud hired on the former Google exec Holly Lim as their CFO last year. Further developments in the story have found that Universal, Sony, AND Warner Brothers all are major share holders of Soundcloud, so if the company were to sell to Google for $500 Million, the companies would be splitting about $50 million of the proceeds. 2017 has just begun and with possible buyouts of Soundcloud by Google, and Pandora by Sirius XM, things are going to change when it comes to the way we listen to music.
H/T: Resident Advisor