Deezer, a streaming music service that is a competitor to Spotify around the world, has raised $130 million in investment from Access Industries, the company that last year bought the Warner Music Group for $3.3 billion.
The investment will help Deezer, which began in France, continue its expansion around the planet, the company said in its announcement on Monday.
To build up their user and subscriber numbers, digital music services have been venturing around the planet, opening in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Most companies, even ones like Spotify that began in Europe, have pushed hard to establish themselves in the United States, but Deezer has looked elsewhere, seeing the American market as saturated. Besides France, Britain and some other countries in Europe, it is also available in Mauritius, Thailand, Ivory Coast and Honduras.
The company says it has seven million monthly users, in cluding two million paying subscribers. Spotify, which for months has been said to be in the process of raising more than $200 million, has 15 million monthly users and four million paying subscribers. But while Spotify's lost about $57 million on $236 million in revenue last year, Deezer says it is profitable.
“We don't believe in gambling on the future of music,†Axel Dauchez, Deezer's chief executive, said in a statement. “Both the recovery and the future growth of the music business require companies like Deezer to develop profitable, long-term business models that deliver for all industry players - from authors and artists to digital distributors.â€
An article in the French paper Le Figaro said that of the $130 million investment, about $32 million will be used to buy out existing shareholders, but a spokesman for Access declined to comment. The major record companies and Merlin, which negotiates on behalf of many independents, own a minority stake in Spotify.
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