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File-sharing service WeTransfer is moving into the music business

Dutch file-sharing service WeTransfer announced Wednesday at an event in Los Angeles that it plans to roll out new music player that will rival Apple and Spotify.

Bloomberg reports that WeTransfer marketing executive Maarten Kadiks reported the new exclusive song and music video service, which has already released songs from Big Grams, Disclosure, and Prince. The company is hoping to have more exclusives in the new service.

The company may not have concrete plans to make money out of music, but it plans to discover a potential hit through this new feature, the same way streaming services do. It also wants to enter the music industry to stand out from its competitors, like Dropbox. This is a strategy that will help them expand in the US. WeTransfer lets people transfer files as big as two gigabytes for free. However, it is its pay service that is most popular among its users who need to transfer larger files.  

WeTransfer recently added a new board member who will help the company penetrate the entertainment industry, according to Venture Beat. Troy Carter is a venture capitalist who also manages artists like Meghan Trainor and Lady Gaga. This could bolster the company's expansion to the music industry.  

According to a report by Fast Company, WeTransfer separates itself from other file-sharing company by being the platform choice of artists, musicians and others from the creative community. It shows artistic images in the backdrop as users transfer their files. Carter said he noticed how the company's strategy appeals to the creative community and it is very effective at it. He admires how WeTransfer turned a boring service into something fun. According to WeTransfer, half of its users all around the world are from the creative industry.

The company currently has more than 1 billion files transferred through its system in 2015, which is equivalent to 85 million transfers a month.


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