Reports say Google wouldn't pay Spotify's steep asking price Google reportedly tried to buy popular music streaming service Spotify late last year, but the talks broke down and the deal didn’t go through. Several stumbling blocks, including the high price Spotify executives were asking, sunk the deal, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page also reportedly stymied the acquisition with a lack of enthusiasm for subscription entertainment services. Both Spotify and Google declined to comment. The reports of Google going after Spotify come a few weeks after Google confirmed it was acquiring Songza, another music streaming service. Neither company would disclose financial details, although other reports put the price tag at around $39 million. Songza, a free app available for iPhones and Android, offers a variety of playlists based on what the user is doing, such as waking up, exercising, working in the office or cooking with friends. Music lists also can be based on genres and musical eras. Spotify, based in Sweden, is a bigger and more well-known service. Launched in 2008, Spotify reported in May that it had reached two milestones — 10 million paying subscribers and more than 40 million active users. Spotify also noted that users have created more than 1.5 billion playlists, collectively creating or updating more than 5 million playlists each day. Apple, a major player in the music industry with the iPod and the ubiquitous iTunes, announced in May that it had acquired Beats Music, a subscription-based online music streaming service. Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, said he wasn’t surprised that Google would go after Spotify and continue its competition in the music industry with Apple. “Obviously Google finds value in it, so I was a little surprised they didn’t get it done,” he added. “I think they should have coughed up the money, though, as Google is way behind Apple in music.” Music is a huge anchor application, according to Kerravala. “It’s something that’s pervasive across all generations,” he said. “It’s an application that draws people to the platform, so the service provider with the best music service is the one that many consumers gravitate to.” This article, Google tried to buy music giant Spotify, was originally published at Computerworld.com. Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon’s RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com. See more by Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.com. Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe