Li Ka-Shing, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the 3 network (and hence INQ), has just confirmed his involvement in a fresh investment into music streaming service Spotify, which will see a seat on Spotify’s board occupied by Frank Meehan, INQ’s CEO.
So far, Spotify has raised between £20m and £30m from investors and record labels. Exact terms of this fresh investment were undisclosed. But it’s clear what’s going on here: with Spotify’s upcoming raft of mobile apps – including, but not limited to, the iPhone app (which kinda depends on whether Apple approves it anyway) – Spotify needs some serious mobile know-how on board. With this new deal, they’re getting it. According to New Media Age, Spotify was already in talks with 3 to get its software preinstalled on new handsets. That seems all the more likely now.
It’s not only the mobile aspect of the deal that’s interesting. There were reports last week that Spotify was considering China as a potential new market. Hong Kong-based Ka-Shing will be invaluable to any efforts in that direction. Every week now I seem to find myself writing the same sentence: is there any stopping Spotify?
Spotify is a great piece of software, and is great for home entertainment, they easily became the number 1 music application in the UK (+other countries).
However i think the mobile market will be a tough nut to crack, this appointment may be a wise in the long run to profitability.
However I still don’t see how Spotify can turn the numbers to make it a successful business, people don’t want to pay for their music (The lower amount of young people this year who download “illegal music” in the UK coincides with the spotify launch? conicedence?) The adverts won’t cover the costs….
My vote is that this will all end in tears, maybe not now but give it 3-5 years and it will be doomsday, and we will all be back to usenet and bittorrent.
Unless of course the labels see sense and figure out that music is the same as TV… and figure they can no longer get the large fee’s they once command for streaming….
I would applaud Super Investment
go Spotify!!
Congrats, that´s great deal! Like back in 2000 Mannesmann and PCCW !