Aspiro
 | |
| Type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people |
Andy Chen (CEO) Chris Hart (CFO) |
| Industry | Music |
| Employees | 120 |
| Parent | Project Panther Ltd. |
| Website | Official website |
Aspiro Group is a media technology company founded in 1998. The company mainly provides subscription-based lossless music streaming services under two brands, WiMP Music and Tidal. The company is headquartered in Norway, with additional offices in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Poland.
As of the end of December 2014, Aspiro’s music streaming services had 500,000 paying customers.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1998 by Jörgen Adolfsson, Christer Månsson and Klas Hallqvist. The founders knew each other from working together at Europolitan, one of Sweden's three largest mobile phone operators at the time, which was partly owned by Vodafone. It was not until Adolfsson and Månsson moved to Oslo, where they worked for Telenor Mobil's division for Value-Creating Services, they realized the changes that Wireless Application Protocol would mean for mobile communications, immediately they contacted Hallqvist, who remained in Sweden as head of quality at Europolitan, and founded Aspiro.[2]
In May 2000, Aspiro was listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange's New Market and later, in June 2001, began trading on the main list. Between 2000 and 2008, Aspiro acquired at least 13 companies: Midab Data, InfoCreator, Mgage Systems, Picofun, Melody Interactive Solutions, Emode, Cellus, Inpoc, Boomi, Mobile Avenue, Rubberduck, Voolife and Mobile Entry. However, it wasn't until 2009 they developed their first music streaming service, which is the core business today.[3]
On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Aspiro had received a $56 million takeover bid from Project Panther Bidco Ltd, which is indirectly owned and controlled by entertainment mogul Shawn Carter. Although some minority shareholders opposed the takeover and argued that Project Panther undervalued the growth potential in their bid, the acquisition was announced finalized on March 13 after being accepted by over 90 percent of the shareholders.[4][5][6]
Subsidiaries
- WiMP Music
- TIDAL HiFi
- RADR Music News
- Mobile Search
References
- ↑ "Aspiro reports user numbers for January". Cision. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- ↑ Jan-Eric Öhman (2000-02-22). "Born Mobile". Enablers. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ↑ "Schibsted's Offer to the Shareholders in Aspiro AB". Schibsted. 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ↑ "Schibsted ASA (SCH) - Schibsted accepts an offer from Project Panther Bidco to acquire Aspiro". Schibsted. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ↑ "Jay Z's $56 Million Bid for Aspiro Undervalues Company, Say Shareholders". Billboard. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ↑ "Jay Z Buys the Music Streaming Firm, Aspiro". NY Times. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-14.