Spotify valued at $8.5 billion after TeliaSonera buys stake

The Nordic telecommunications firm paid $115 million for a 1.4 per cent stake

TeliaSonera paid $115 million for a 1.4 per cent stake in Spotify (Getty Images)

Spotify's valuation has reportedly grown to $8.53 billion (£5.52 billion) after the completion of a $526 million fundraising round, just days after the Apple announced a rival streaming service.

Apple has unveiled Apple Music, a streaming service and 24-hour online radio station, that was seen as a potential threat to existing platforms like Spotify and Jay-Z's artist-friendly Tidal.

The widely expected announcement didn't put off investors like Nordic telecommunications firm TeliaSonera from ploughing cash into the Stockholm-based company, which is looking to expand into new forms of content.

TeliaSonera paid $115 million for a 1.4 per cent stake in Spotify, boosting Spotify's value past the $8 billion mark.

Spotify has been valued around the $8 billion mark since April, when the Wall Street Journal, reported that a $400 million round of funding meant Spotify was worth $8.4 billion.

"Both companies are also committing resources, staff and other assets to ignite the joint innovation agenda within areas such as media distribution, customer insights, data analytics and advertising," TeliaSonera said in a statement.

Other investors to join the fundraising included British asset managers Baillie Gifford, Landsdowne Partners and Rinkelberg Capital, as well as Canadian hedge funds Senvest Capital and Discovery Capital Management, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a source.

Sportify adviser Goldman Sachs also chipped in through a fund, while Halcyon Asset Management, GSV Capital, D.E. Shaw & Co., Technology Crossover Ventures, Northzone and P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, were also involved, the WSJ added.

The news comes as reports emerged that Apple Music has already ruffled the feathers of regulators in the US.

The attorneys general of New York and Connecticut are reportedly looking into whether Apple pressured record labels, or colluded with them, to pull backing for services like Spotify.