Universal Music sues Deezer, signs with Spotify - report

Swedish music streaming platform Spotify has signed a licensing deal with music label Universal Music, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the discussions. The deal between Spotify and the Vivendi subsidiary was sealed two weeks ago, according one source. Spotify, Europe's biggest service of its kind, uses a "freemium" revenue model, using ad-sponsored free access to convert users to the pay version. One tenth of its 10 million registered users in Europe have subscribed to date. The wire service reported in February that the two companies were close to a deal that would allow Spotify to enter the lucrative US market. Reportedly under pressure from Apple and its iTunes portal, top-tier music labels have been reticent to license the platform because of the very high number of titles to which it gives users access. In April, it wrote about a potential deal between Spotify and Google. In related news, L'Express writes that Universal Music is suing French music streaming platform Deezer for copyright infringement. It has levelled the charge that Deezer continues to offer the Universal catalogue for free access even though their licensing deal expired in January. As previously reported, Orange-backed Deezer recently relaunched its website and limited free listening to 5 hours a month.