Spotify has acquired Swedish music discovery startup Tunigo in an effort to compete with Twitter’s new music service, AllThingsD reports. Tunigo will continue to operate as normal for the time being, but all of the company’s employees will reportedly move into Spotify’s offices in Stockholm and New York to work on Spotify’s main music streaming service.
Spotify’s purchase comes months after Twitter acquired music discovery service We Are Hunted and turned it into Twitter Music, which launched on the iPhone just last month. According to AllThingsD, Tunigo will help Spotify get into the music discovery game and compete.
Spotify is expected to go things a little differently, however. Twitter killed We Are Hunted to create a service of its own, while Spotify will reportedly keep Tunigo going, but use its staff to improve its main music streaming service — likely integrating better music discovery features.
Both moves suggest that companies are placing new focus on helping users find music they like, and therefore keeping them entertained — and in Spotify’s case, subscribed. Daisy, an upcoming music service from Jimmy Iovine, will have the same focus, and so will Apple’s “iRadio,” according to AllThingsD.
That’s if Apple can reach the necessary deals.
“Last I heard, they’re still stuck haggling with Sony Music and Sony/ATV, it [sic] related-but-separate publishing company — it will launch an iRadio service that combines elements of both Pandora and on-demand services,” AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka reports.
Source: AllThingsD
