Bring on the Music, Apple: Spotify ups the ante - and money pot

Firm now valued at $8.5 BILLION, according to reports

Music streaming biz Spotify has raised $115m (£75m) from an investor, part of the latest funding round which — according to reports — values the company at a staggering $8.5bn (£5.7bn).

Swedish telephone biz TeliaSonera AB today confirmed it has handed over a further $115m to Spotify, with the company having been an investor for five years. It now has a 1.4 per cent stake.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the funding is part of an overall pot of $556m raised, hence the $8.5bn valuation.

The deal is based around furthering media distribution, customer insights, data analytics and advertising, said TeliaSonera and Spotify in a joint canned statement.

“We have a long and great relationship with TeliaSonera and I'm pleased we're able to take this to the next level together with this strategic partnership," said Daniel Ek, Spotify chief executive.

It comes as Apple prepares to move in on Spotify's market, with the launch of its own subscription-based streaming service at the end of June.

Similar to the Spotify app, Apple Music will release its pre-installed music service for $10 a month when iPhone customers upgrade their mobes to the latest version of iOS.

Investors in Spotify’s new round include British asset managers Baillie Gifford, Landsdowne Partners and Rinkelberg Capital; Canadian hedge funds Senvest Capital and Discovery Capital Management, said the WSJ. ®