Spotify is kind of a big deal. The streaming goliath recently went back in for more funding and are nearing a deal worth a reported $400 million from Goldman Sachs and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. That would place the company’s valuation at a whopping $8.4 billion. That makes Spotify worth twice as much as Pandora, and worth more than the $8 billion offered for the world’s largest music company, Universal.

This news comes as another big landmark for a company that seems to be pioneering what a streaming service can do, and proves that–despite the argument that the cost of a streaming subscription should be lowered — investors believe Spotify’s best days lie ahead.


If you’re a copyright infringer and you thought your Soundcloud account was safe–think again. According to The Verge SoundCloud has partnered with the same company that helps YouTube scan their videos for copyright infringement. Though it would seem that the goal is not increased litigation. It’s possible that the goal of the partnership copyright holders to get paid even when the media was uploaded illegally. This works by allowing copyright holders to run ads on the illegally uploaded content, thereby monetizing the previously revenue-less upload.