Music streaming service Rhapsody has acquired Softbank-backed music recommendation app developer Schematic Labs, according to a blog post on Schematic Labs’ website yesterday.
Founded in 2010, US-based Schematic Labs is the creator of SoundTracking, an app that enables users to post recommendations of songs to each other with links to the songs attached.
Softbank Capital, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications company Softbank, Accel Partners and True Ventures invested $4.75m in Schematic in 2011.
The corporate venture capital units of internet companies Google and AOL had previously funded Schematics’ seed round in 2010 alongside True Ventures and several angel investors. Fenox Venture Capital was also an investor in the company, according to its website.
Rhapsody oversees music streaming and online music services including Napster, and has 2 million paid subscribers worldwide, marginally less than competitor Pandora’s 2.5 million but significantly less than Spotify (10 million) and Deezer (5 million). Founded in 2001, it is backed by investors including telecommunications firm Telefonica.