Pandora, one of the world’s leading music discovery platforms, announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire several key assets from Rdio, an online music streaming company headquartered in San Francisco. The purchase price is $75 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments, the press release said.
The move is expected to further strengthen Pandora’s position in the music industry. Besides, acquiring Rdio’s technology and intellectual property, Pandora says it will offer many members of Rdio’s team roles in its company, subject to close of the agreement.
“The Rdio team built an acclaimed product and technology platform that has consistently led innovation in the young streaming industry. I'm pleased that many members of the Rdio team will continue to shape the future of streaming music, applying our tradition of great design and innovative engineering on an even larger stage with Pandora,” said Anthony Bay, chief executive officer of Rdio.
The company also pointed out that it is not acquiring the operating business of Rdio, rather it is acquiring the technology and talent to boost its own business strategy. Moreover, it expects to offer an “expanded Pandora listening experience by late 2016”.
In a blog post, Rdio said on Monday that its services will continue for the time being and will offer more updates in the coming weeks on what this process means for its users’ Rdio account.
