• All Things Digital, Friday, June 17, 2011 12:03 PM

As it inches closer to a long-awaited U.S. debut, music streaming service Spotify just finalized a "huge" funding round that gives it a valuation of about $1 billion, reports All Things D. "The European company has raised around $100 million from DST, Kleiner Perkins and Accel," it writes. Spotify has reportedly been working on the round for over six months, but people familiar with the company tell All Things D that it didn't actually close until this week. And, not a moment too soon.

"Spotify CEO Daniel Ek can use some of that cash to support a planned U.S. launch this summer," All Things D writes. "Its efforts to get into the U.S. have been stymied for two years, and recently, Spotify has had to scale back what it offers for free to European users -- either to appease the music labels, or to save money, depending on which version of the story you believe."

That said, the company now has U.S. licensing deals with three of the four big music labels, and is reportedly in advanced talks with Warner Music Group. As was recently announced, Spotify is also working with Facebook on a big integration deal, but which isn't expected to be tied to its U.S. launch.

Read the whole story at All Things Digital »