STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Streaming music service Spotify could be floated within a year, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, after co-founder Martin Lorentzon told Swedish radio a listing was not in the pipeline.
Reuters reported last month that Spotify, working with investment banks Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Allen & Co, will be the first major company to carry out a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange later this year or early in 2018.
Lorentzon told Swedish radio on Friday there were no plans for a listing, but responding to his comments, the source told Reuters that it looks like "it would be within 12 months from now".
Spotify also confirmed a stock market listing was still an option.
"Martin is our co-founder and a board member, but not a spokesperson for the company. Spotify hasn't confirmed any definitive plans to go public. It remains an option for us," it said in a statement on Friday.
Lorentzon, who is a significant shareholder in Spotify, told Swedish Radio Ekot the firm had not "gotten anywhere and there is nothing planned regarding that".
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"I am not saying it is fake news, but half of what the media writes is usually correct and half is usually not," he said.
Spotify, which most recently was valued at $13 billion, lost 173 million euros ($194 million) in 2015, according to the latest figures disclosed by its Luxembourg-based holding company.
($1 = 0.8912 euros)
(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm and Olof Swahnberg; Editing by Keith Weir)
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