Google announced that it has acquired the free radio-style music streaming service, Songza, strengthening its hold on the fast growing online music business.
Google, the internet search giant, is exploring ways to attract new users towards its extensive portfolio of services. The web giant is expanding its offerings with a new addition that will bolster its presence in the online music streaming service. In an official announcement Tuesday, Google confirmed the acquisition of Songza, a free radio-style internet based music streaming service.
Google's not planning to make any immediate changes to the service at present but is exploring ways to incorporate aspects of Songza into its existing music streaming service in the coming months, Songza confirmed in a separate blog post on its official website.
The team behind Songza will share its expertise to build new products in the future. The Mountain View, California-based web company is looking to bring Songza features into its $9.99 per month Google Play Music. The four-year-old Songza music service creates "expert-curated" playlists to match the listeners' moods and tastes. The service customizes the songs list based on users' selection, such as while working, driving or strolling on a sunny day.
"They've built a great service which uses contextual expert-curated playlists to give you the right music at the right time," Google said in a Google+ post.
The deal comes at a crucial time when the tech industry is ramping up its efforts to secure a prominent space in the rapidly-growing internet music service. The deal is important for Google as its rivals are boosting their music streaming services. In May, Apple acquired Beats Electronics for $3 billion, which includes the subscription based streaming service Beats Music. Amazon launched a new streaming service called Prime Music, free for its $99-a-year Prime members.
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed by either company, but an earlier report speculated that Google offered as much as $15 million for Songza. The acquisition also confirms Google's plans to launch a standalone YouTube music service.
Songza is a well-established music company with 5.5 million active users, a fraction compared to giants like Spotify and Pandora. In May, Spotify announced that it serves 40 million users, which includes 10 million paying customers, while Pandora rules the industry with more than 75 million listeners.
Songza has raised $6.7 million in funding from Amazon, Metamorphic Ventures, Lerer Ventures and from Gary Vaynerchuk, Lady Gaga's manager, Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun and music startup investor Troy Carter, according to Venture Beat.
