The battle between Europe’s two leading digital music providers is at an end after Music Choice Ltd announced that it was acquiring Xtra Music Limited from Maxide Music and LGI Ventures BV (a part of Liberty Global).
Xtra Music is the European distributor of DMX, which fought a bitter battle for the European premium audio market during the 1990s. It is also where Music Choice chief executive Margot Daly began her career in the provision of digital music. “The digital music business is hugely different to what it was even a few years ago and to keep innovating and serving customers, a business such as Xtra requires scale,” said Daly.
The acquisition will bring the Music Choice audience to 40 million households, extending coverage in eight European countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Ukraine and Turkey. It will also have access to UPC’s growing number of digital households where Xtra Music was the preferred provider.
Music Choice will take control from March 31, replacing Xtra Music’s US driven playlists with input from its London-based team. The Xtra Music brand will be gradually phased out.
