Spotify Is Reportedly No Longer Purchasing SoundCloud

Spotify has reportedly changed its mind and is not purchasing SoundCloud after months of talks.

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Publicist

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It sounds like Spotify is no longer purchasing SoundCloud after all.

TechCrunch reports that the streaming giant has given up buying SoundCloud after months of talks, according to a source at Spotify. The source added the deal died this past week because the company was afraid the acquisition could negatively impact its IPO. "It doesn't need an additional licensing headache in a potential IPO year," the source explained.

Of course, the Sweden-based company has not publicly stated they are going public but TechCrunch notes there has been plenty of recent speculation about the move. If you remember, Spotify raised $1 billion in convertible debt back in March of this year. TechCrunch was quick to point out all the ways this deal would serve Spotify's favor if Spotify was going public.

As recently as September, the two companies were in negotiation talks, according to The Financial Times. Spotify passed 100 million users this summer with more than 40 million as paid subscribers. Meanwhile, SoundCloud has a huge catalog of tracks because of the way the service is so useful for indie creatives, remixers, and more. Spotify purchasing SoundCloud would have meant the addition of user-created content to its music catalog.

It seems that a deal between streaming services Spotify and SoundCloud is off the table—at least for now. You can read TechCrunh's full analysis of the situation and why evidence points to Spotify going public here. We'll continue to update as more details become available.

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