now WeTransfer is launching a streaming service too

In the past week we got news of Beats Music and Rdio shutting down (the latter because Pandora acquired “key parts” of it), and now comes the news that file sharing and storage site WeTransfer is launching a streaming player and a video streaming platform next week. They’ve already premiered music from Prince, Disclosure and Big Grams, and they’re hoping to get more exclusive premieres along the lines of something like Tidal. The new service is an attempt to set them apart from sites like Dropbox and move them into competition with Souncloud, Spotify, Bandcamp and such. WeTransfer marketing executive Maarten Kadiks tells Bloomberg:

We’re using music to put us on the map. Six years ago we started out in Europe, and that is where we see the biggest amount of users. The U.S. is taking over in terms of growth. The service can become one of the most popular, alternative digital distribution channels for music content. Musicians we’re having conversations with understand the value of connecting with our audience of creative tastemakers.

UPDATE: Kadiks clarifies in a new statement:

WeTransfer’s new music streaming-solution is not a direct competitor of Soundcloud, Spotify or other music-streaming platforms. Those are dedicated players. The WeTransfer streaming solution is very different and is primarily a marketing channel for the creator. With this player, artists get a focused campaign to deliver their content to our massive audience. It is more of a complement to their activities on Spotify or Soundcloud.

Meanwhile, Zune officially ended earlier this week.