Sprint and Spotify are reportedly in talks of a deal that will allow Sprint customers to stream music from Spotify and have the charge added on their monthly bills.
According to sources of re/code, details of the deal will be announced on April 29 in New York City. But the service will not be automatically available to Sprint customers because they still need to talk with music labels. Spotify pays the music labels for the license and it is still uncertain if Sprint will also need to pay for the license.
In January, AT&T and Beats Music announced their partnership and started offering unlimited streaming music and downloads for up to five family members across 10 devices for only $14.99 per month. A 90-day free trial period was also offered.
So now it comes no surprise that Sprint would want to have its own deal with an online streaming music service and Spotify is just a perfect fit. Spotify has one billion playlists and 24 million active users with 20,000 songs added everyday
Music streaming services partnering with U.S wireless carriers are just starting unlike pay TV companies that have established their partnerships with the carriers long before.
Sources suggest that the Sprint-Spotify deal will be included on the Framily plan for an additional $15 a month for five people. Customers may be offered discounts as well instead of the usual $9.99 Spotify charge.
Spotify will also benefit from the merger especially that it has been planning on launching its own IPO which is reported to happen this year, Billboard.com reports. This will also be favorable for the Japanese investment firm Softbank that operates Sprint, which attempted to bid for the music label Universal Music Group for $8.5 billion but lost the deal.
Sprint and Spotify both refused to comment when asked about the rumor.
