Google Eyeing $15 Million Acquisition Of Songza Music Streaming Service
We’ve been getting used to billion-dollar-plus acquisitions lately, and thus a rumor that Google is in talks to buy streaming music service Songza for just $15 million doesn’t quite make ones eyes pop, but it’s still noteworthy that the search giant is working to enhance its product offerings.
It would seem that the current Google Play Music streaming service, with its $9.99 per month All Access plan, needs some spicing up in the form of better playlists. With oceans of music available, many people rely on pre-curated playlists--sometimes made by celebrities or popular musicians--to keep up on the hottest new tunes.
Songza has evolved into a music streaming service that only offers playlists. There’s a daily Tumblr-like stream of playlists and articles and miscellany, and you can look for appropriate playlists by Activities, Genres, Moods, and Decades, too. For example, there are handy playlists for ballroom dancing or barbecuing and everything in between. Or if you’re in a 70s mood, you can quickly look up a playlist that takes you back. And so on.
It’s almost humorous that Google is spending just $15 million to bolster its curated playlist package when competitor Apple just dropped a cool $3 billion on Beats (for both its headphones and its new streaming service), but then again, if Songza gives Google any sort of edge in the market at all, it’s money well spent.
It would seem that the current Google Play Music streaming service, with its $9.99 per month All Access plan, needs some spicing up in the form of better playlists. With oceans of music available, many people rely on pre-curated playlists--sometimes made by celebrities or popular musicians--to keep up on the hottest new tunes.
Songza has evolved into a music streaming service that only offers playlists. There’s a daily Tumblr-like stream of playlists and articles and miscellany, and you can look for appropriate playlists by Activities, Genres, Moods, and Decades, too. For example, there are handy playlists for ballroom dancing or barbecuing and everything in between. Or if you’re in a 70s mood, you can quickly look up a playlist that takes you back. And so on.
It’s almost humorous that Google is spending just $15 million to bolster its curated playlist package when competitor Apple just dropped a cool $3 billion on Beats (for both its headphones and its new streaming service), but then again, if Songza gives Google any sort of edge in the market at all, it’s money well spent.
