Spotify and Sprint to partner as the battle for carriers heats up

It looks like Beat Music’s deal with AT&T - together with the reported half a million subscribers currently on a trial that the streaming service got off the back of it - was a catalyst for movement in the space.

This weekend Peter Kafka from Re/Code reported that Sprint and Spotify are working on a bundle deal that would make it easy for the carrier’s 54 million customers to subscribe to the music streaming service. It remains to be seen how the partnership will be carried out.

It could be a “light” partnership, featuring Spotify as the recommended music app from Sprint, or it could be a tighter integration which would enable Sprint customers to get a couple of month’s free trial and see them charged directly on their mobile bill and perhaps even enjoying a discount on the subscription cost or - copying from Beats’ playbook - a family plan that could cover multiple people.

Spotify has already announced a half price discount for students so it’s not unthinkable that the company would tinker with price points, since the high price of subscriptions is often seen as the n.1 barrier to more customers upgrading to the premium product. 

The deal would make sense as Sprint has not yet taken sides in the music streaming wars and although it’s only the third carrier in terms of size it does have a loyal customer base.

And what about the second largest carrier, Verizon? Well the company hasn’t picked a side either, but on its website is promoting Slacker Radio and Rhapsody as top streaming choices. So far these partnerships have operated on a "mutual exclusion" basis, meaning that if Spotify has parntnered with Sprint it may have ruled out Verizon already - only time will tell if two carriers will choose to go with the same streaming service. 

The streaming wars could see carrier partnerships be one of the top drivers for subscriptions, and it’s going to be very tough for companies that are left out in the cold. After all there are only four large carriers in the USA to do partnerships with. Another catalyst for growth? Cable companies - there haven't been many large scale partnerships on that front.

(Andrea Leonelli)