Spotify has unveiled a new partnership with Samsung, and the music streaming service’s investors have reacted positively. The company’s share price grew by almost 5% on Thursday in the wake of news that Spotify software is set to be baked into a wide range of Samsung products.
Yesterday, Spotify stock rose more than 8 points to $187.38 per share by the market’s close. Spotify had announced that, with its Samsung deal, the streaming service will be integrated into not only Galaxy phones, tablets and watches but also the South Korean titan’s smart fridges and smart TVs.
Even Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Home smart speaker will natively support Spotify, as will Samsung’s digital assistant Bixby. Many owners of recent Samsung phones are likely to be familiar with Bixby, which will prioritize Spotify functionality when asked to play music.
GlobalData industry analyst Avi Greengart has enthused about the partnership in a USA TODAY article, pointing out: “Samsung gets access to compelling content it needs to make its devices more attractive. Spotify gets a hardware partner to hedge against Apple’s vertical integration.”
Though Greengart has said that “on paper this looks really good for everyone,” he has also admitted that such corporate partnerships “often fail to bring the benefits they promise, so execution will be key.”
