You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Google Buys Digital Music Service Songza Google expands into music streaming with purchase of context and curation-based Songza.

By Nina Zipkin

entrepreneur daily

Ending weeks of speculation, Google announced it has scooped up digital music service Songza for an undisclosed sum, hoping to stand out in a crowd that includes Pandora, Spotify and most recently, Apple.

Songza's stock and trade is giving users playlists for any mood or occasion, and predicting what they want to hear next.

While the deal was initially rumored to be for $15 million, the New York Times reports that it came to more than $39 million.

Related: How Google Is Taking Over Our Lives

In an announcement yesterday, Google said Songza will enhance its current streaming music product. "Over the coming months, we'll explore ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music," the company wrote.

Both companies emphasized that there will be no immediate changes made to Songza, other than improvements in speed and intuitiveness, and it will continue to work as it has in the past. The Google Play Music service was launched last year.

Related: Here's Why YouTube Video Creators Are About to Make a Lot of Money

The move could give Google a sharper edge in the increasingly competitive music-streaming space. Apple launched iTunes Radio last year and recently bought Beats Electronics and its accompanying streaming service Beats Music for $3 billion, in its largest purchase to date. Amazon has also launched a music service for its Prime members.

Google also said it intends to "look for opportunities to bring [Songza's] great work to the music experience on YouTube and other Google products." That is in line with reports earlier this month of a YouTube paid music streaming service.

Related: Heads Up Music Lovers: YouTube to Create Streaming Music Service

Nina Zipkin

Entrepreneur Staff

Staff Writer. Covers leadership, media, technology and culture.

Nina Zipkin is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com. She frequently covers leadership, media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

From Tom Brady to Kevin O'Leary – See Who Lost Big in the Wake of the FTX Crypto Collapse

The crash exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts, leaving investors and customers scrambling to recoup their funds.

Business News

This Highly-Debated Piece of Cinematic History Just Sold For Over $700,000 at Auction

The wood panel from "Titanic" is often mistaken as a door. Either way, he couldn't have fit. (Sorry.)

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Says This CEO Is the 'Taylor Swift' of Tech

Meta's CEO posed with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Instagram Wednesday.

Fundraising

Avoid These 9 Pitch Deck Mistakes When Asking Others For Money

Crafting an efficient pitch deck requires serious effort, but at least it's not wandering in the dark since certain rules are shaped by decades of relationships between startups and investors.