Spotify has confirmed that it is indeed going forward with the renewal of a nine year old deal with Merlin. This deal comes after the streaming service entered into an agreement with Universal, paving the way for artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Kanye West to release exclusive content to premium members.
At the other end of the deal is Merlin, a firm that represents almost 20,000 independent record labels in as many as 51 countries. To put things in perspective, that is around 12 percent of the digital recorded music market and the firm itself, is Spotify’s fourth largest partner after labels like Sony, Universal and Warner Music.
Spotify is currently the world’s top streaming provider and counts over 50 million paying subscribers. That is actually a very impressive number and the company hopes to keep up the pressure by providing premium subscribers with exclusive content. However, the company’s aggressive expansion strategy has kept it from exhibiting a profit, yet.
That could change as the company reportedly plans to get in more funds via a listing in the US. It is said to be opting or a direct listing as opposed to an IPO. What that means, is that Spotify shareholders and employees would be able to directly list their shares and trade them freely. However, the company would be unable to place new shares by working with underwriters. Regardless, new influx of cash will allow the company to put the finishing touches to its expansion strategy and turn its mind to generating profits.
The company’s last funding came in form of a $526 million round raised in 2015, at a valuation of around $8.5 billion.
