Spotify claims rumors of Apple talks are false

Spotify was quick to dismiss recent rumors that it was in talks with Apple over a possible sellout. Company spokesman Jim Butcher said the company normally avoided discussing rumors but wanted to stress that the music streaming service had "absolutely no intention" of selling itself off. It had never talked to Apple about a deal, the representative told CNET.

The claims would better corroborate talk that Apple had been seeding doubt regarding Spotify among labels. Most likely to shut out a potential rival, it allegedly said Spotify's ad-based and subscription models would undermine per-track sales in the US industry as a whole. Labels like Warner have been willing to make deals in Europe for Spotify, but the low profits associated with the service have led them to resist a US deal and share Apple's reported sentiment.

Spotify has been one of the few companies with a streaming-first business model to be successful and might have been a target to fulfill Apple's ambitions for streaming iTunes media. A deal could cost it valuable label licenses, however, and could leave it as just a technology deal.

By Electronista Staff

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industry, iTunes, Warner, audio, Apple, Spotify