Google in Deal for Songza, a Music Playlist Service

Google bought Songza, a three-year-old app that competes with Pandora and others in making customized playlists of recommended songs.

The price was not announced. But a person briefed on the deal, who was not authorized to speak about its terms, said that Google paid more than $39 million for Songza. Acquiring Songza could help Google improve its ability to offer musical “curation” -- the buzzword of the moment in digital music, meaning the ability to generate playlists of songs that are tailored to each user. In the case of Songza, its specialty is a concierge service that matches playlists to particular times of day, or to activities, like working, studying or entertaining at home. A deal with the Weather Channel allows Songza to further tailor its music recommendations to a listener’s current weather conditions. Songza has 5.5 million listeners, compared with 75 million for Pandora and 40 million for both Spotify and Apple's iTunes Radio.