Once again proving that the online music streaming business is an expensive sandbox to play in, Beats is rumored to have come up with another large chunk of money for its second round of funding — once again, coming from existing investors — for its fledgling music streaming service. Apparently, if you want to put pressure on the current market leader, Spotify, you’ll need some serious cash support.
According to a report by Bloomberg earlier this week (in which the primary sources requested anonymity because the news isn’t officially public yet), the amount is somewhere in the fairly wide ballpark of between $60 million and $100 million, with the money allegedly aimed at product development and new feature integration, gaining new customers, and new PR moves, as well as challenging Spotify Ltd. for exclusive music rights.
Beats’ first round of funding, which resulted in $60 million, came in March 2013 and was primarily put up by Access Industries, Warner Music’s parent company. This second round of funding comes only a few days after Beats Music’s release of its API, with the assumed goal of allowing developers to code in Beats tools. The API contains the company’s catalog of more than 20 million tracks, in addition to music metadata, personal recommendations, exclusively curated content, and album and artist art.
Beats Music, launched at the beginning of this year, has a plethora of opponents to compete against already, with Spotify likely being the first and foremost, especially in terms of the specific niche that both services look to fill. The service has sprinted face-first into the music streaming game, but the beginner seems to be doing just fine this early in the game, all things considered.
