While we’re all waiting (im)patiently all year for Apple to leverage their Lala acquisition into a streaming version of iTunes, Swedish music service Spotify has quickly become a favorite overseas, since Cupertino hasn’t allowed it into the U.S. App Store yet. But what if the delay could be tied to Apple’s desire to acquire the service outright?
MacRumors is reporting that Apple may be in “very early stage” negotiations with Swedish music streaming service Spotify, which has quickly become a favorite among those who have gotten their hands on the iOS app, which has yet to come to the U.S. iTunes Store. According to TechCrunch, the discussions haven’t progressed beyond the “feeling out stage” and no firm offers are yet on the table.
The tip “came in yesterday via email from an anonymous source,” TechCrunch noted. “Most tips are just outright false, but we dug into this one a little bit. Here's what we heard: Apple and Spotify are in on again, off again discussions about an acquisition, but at best it's very early in the process. No firm price has been offered, no term sheet tabled. Still, it's interesting that the two are talking.”
Earlier this month, rumors flared up that Apple might be trying to trip up Spotify’s often-delayed and much-anticipated U.S. debut, which apparently involved putting a bug in the ear of the record labels that such a streaming service would be a “losing proposition for all involved in the digital music industry.” Of course, Apple would have an ulterior motive in doing this, since they’re reportedly working on a streaming model of their own.
The report also sheds some light on Google’s own attempt to acquire Spotify as part of a $1 billion deal which apparently fell apart when the Swedish service insisted on an $800 million “walk away fee” to be paid if the deal fell through after signing. Also curtailing the deal was Google’s demand that all of the existing Spotify deals with record labels would be carried over to Google, which apparently was not part of the arrangement that Spotify made with those record labels.
The news comes on the heels of Apple’s $50 billion stockpile of cash, which has created endless speculation as to what companies that Cupertino might have their sights on after CEO Steve Jobs suggested they were saving the money for “one or more strategic opportunities” that could present themselves.
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