Blavatnik buys stake in Deezer

DEEZER TEASER: Len Blavatnik is back in the news, and this time it has nothing to do with his opposition to UMG-EMI. The Russian-born billionaire’s Access Industries has purchased a small stake in Europe-focused streaming service Deezer, the N.Y. Post’s Claire Atkinson reports. Deezer, little known here but available in over 100 countries with 18 million accounts, is a rival to Spotify. The WMG owner is expected to push for Deezer to be brought to the US. “It is a very hot digital music service,” said one label exec, explaining that Deezer has been aiming to prove it has a viable business model before making its move stateside. The company plans to team up with a phone company to become part of a subscription bundle. Like Spotify, the French music service has three tiers of service—free, premium and premium plus— and integration with Facebook for sign-in. It also has licensing deals with labels outside the U.S. Deezer booked $60 million in revenue in 2011, up from $17 million the year before. The five-year-old company has reportedly been looking to raise between $60 million to $100 million. A company insider confirmed the investment. Blavatnik has made several digital investments in media and telecommunications this year including mobile video firm Tango and Fashion GPS. (8/3a)