Spotify due to list in New York this year

Spotify has quietly filed to go public, paving the way for what will be one of the biggest technology flotations by a European company.

The Swedish music streaming service has quietly registered for a listing in New York, although it is expected to take an unconventional route that will allow it to go public without selling any new shares.

The “direct listing” means Spotify will enter the markets without the need for a lengthy roadshow process or high banker fees. Although this will make the process low-key, the company is due to attract a valuation of more than US$15 billion ($21.13b).

Spotify filed papers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in late December with a view to going public in the first quarter of 2018, according to US reports.

The company was founded in 2006 and has pioneered legal streaming, which has become the music industry’s biggest source of growth despite early scepticism. Last year it renegotiated deals with the three major music labels, a move seen as a prelude to going public.

It has weathered a number of rows, including one with Taylor Swift, who pulled her music from Spotify late in 2014 over royalties disputes. Swift later put her songs on the service.

Spotify’s plans will also have been disrupted by a $1.6b lawsuit filed by the publishing company Wixen. It claims that thousand of songs by the likes of Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and the Doors have featured on the streaming service without a licence, and is demanding compensation.

Spotify did not comment. The company has over 140 million users, about 60m of whom pay a monthly fee, although its growth has not yet led the company to profitability. In 2016 its losses more than doubled to

539m ($647.5m) despite revenues rising 52 per cent.