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Google may be looking to buy Songza, and the reason is curation

Google may be looking to buy Songza, and the reason is curation

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Google is reportedly eyeing a purchase of Songza, a music streaming app that places a huge focus on curation and finding the right song for any moment. But apparently Mountain View isn't willing to spend much; the New York Post claims that Google is offering only around $15 million for the acquisition.

Songza is by no means a threat to heavyweights like Spotify and Pandora, but the underdog company receives generally positive reviews for its playlists, which look to match song selection with user activities like working out, studying, and mood-based items like "getting fired up" or "taking the day off." This approach is markedly different from that of Pandora, iTunes Radio, and other "radio" services that use your favorite artists and songs to formulate the listening experience.

Google already has on-demand streaming covered thanks to its Google Play Music All Access service. It's already got a massive song catalog to pull from. So a Songza purchase would be all about curation and making its music offerings smarter. Apple's senior executives have said the strong curation offered by Beats Music played a role in their decision to buy all of Beats for $3 billion. CEO Tim Cook described it as the first streaming music app "to get it right." Jimmy Iovine has routinely insisted that some human element is necessary to make the right song choices and that algorithms alone can't do the job. Songza seems to share in those beliefs. "Our free streaming music service has expert-made playlists for every occasion and makes it outrageously easy to find the right one, at the right time," the company says on its website.