Spotify Buys TV App That Helped Viewers Figure Out What to Watch
Spotify Buys TV App That Helped Viewers Figure Out What to Watch
(Bloomberg) -- Spotify Ltd., the world’s largest music streaming service, said it acquired the TV and movie recommendation app MightyTV, adding new technology to help target ads at its millions of users.
MightyTV, founded in 2015 in New York, previously recommended TV shows and movies depending on the user’s previous choices. The startup will close down its video app and integrate the technology into Spotify.
Spotify is looking to boost revenue from advertising, which supports the free service used by the bulk of its music listeners. MightyTV joins Spotify’s effort to develop technology that allows advertisers to target specific groups of listeners based on their listening habits and demographic information. Online publishers have long used this method to reach people reading and watching videos online, but it’s less developed for audio advertising.
MightyTV’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Brian Adams is becoming Spotify’s vice president of technology, focusing on advertising and marketing technology, Spotify said in a statement on its website. Terms of the deal with MightyTV weren’t disclosed.
The addition to Spotify’s advertising team comes as the world’s biggest record labels push the music streaming service to do more to funnel its users to a monthly subscription that generates more revenue. The labels have sought to limit what music is available for free to incentivize people buy a subscription.
Spotify has also become more acquisitive as it considers an initial public offering. MightyTV is the company’s sixth deal since last year, including a deal earlier this month to buy the audio identification service Sonalytic, according to Crunchbase.
"We’re really excited about the road ahead," MightyTV said on its website. "Thanks so much for your support of MightyTV."
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in London at asatariano1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz