Are Spotify making moves to go public?

A number of big moves by Spotify have led to speculation that the company is plotting to go public sooner rather than later.

Firstly, the company settled a class action lawsuit with a number of artists. Then they added four new members to its board of directors, including former COO of Disney, Tom Staggs – who led observers to conclude Spotify are planning a move into video content.

The other three board members added are Padmasree Warrior who heads the US branch of Chinese auto firm NextEV, Shishir Mehrotra — formerly YouTube’s head of product — and Swedish investor Cristina Stenbeck.

The company was set to go public earlier this year, before halting plans due to their business model not being ready. As TechCrunch point out, the company could be planning to go public without an IPO – a move which would avoid millions in underwriting fees, and allow Spotify employees and early investors to sell their shares directly to outside investors. They predict this could take place this year.

Spotify was founded 11 years ago in Sweden by Daniel Ek, now 34. The company is valued at US$8.5bn

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.