Is Coca-Cola Music’s New Sugar Daddy? Spotify Grabs $100M From Coke, Goldman Sachs

Spotify has completed a $100 million financing round on a $3 billion valuation. Goldman Sachs is contributing  50%, Coke 10%, new investor Fidelity 15%, with the remainder coming from existing investors, according to the New York Times. While $10 million is a small stake for a company valued at $162 billion, Coca-Cola's move opens a significant new stream of capital for digital music. That stream could become a river if competitors like Pepsi follow.

In April of this year, Spoitfy and Coca-Cola released a vague joint announcement of a marketing partnership. No details were offered leading to speculation of a deeper relationship.

While Spotify continues to grow, it also continues to loose money, making this round important to the music streamer. Last year, Spotify raised $100 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and DST Global at a  $1 billion valuation.  The major record labels and Merlin also hold minority positions.

Spotify is estimated to have 15 million users with about 4 million of them paying subscribers.