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