Twitter in talks to buy Soundcloud, a music and audio sharing firm: Report

While Apple is in talks with **Beats** and Google with **Twitch** , Twitter is considering buying Soundcloud. According to a report by Re/code, people familiar with the matter have disclosed that Twitter is looking to acquire Soundcloud, a music and audio-sharing company.   Soundcloud calls itself ‘YouTube for audio.’ It is a free service that allows users to upload and share audio files on web. The report points out that by October 2013, Soundcloud had announced 250 million users and $60 million funding round earlier this year.   The company is valued at $700 million, making it Twitter’s biggest acquisition, provided the deal is complete. Though both companies have been tight lipped about the acquisition, it clearly hints that Twitter is looking to expand in the music segment. In fact, the micro-blogging site had launched the Twitter Music app last year that failed to take off.   For Twitter, the deal would be a means to extend beyond its core services. Re/code’s Peter Kafka points out, “That has been an issue for the company since it went public, and it has posted growth numbers that have disappointed investors, who worry that Twitter may end up with a user base that is significantly smaller than the billion-plus that Facebook has acquired. And a Twitter deal could appeal to Soundcloud, because it would give the audio company a real shot at selling ads in front of or alongside its music streams.”   It should be noted that Soundcloud already has a paid service that could further benefit Twitter.