LINE is shutting down music streaming service MixRadio

“MixRadio music streaming service will be discontinued in the coming weeks”

Japanese messaging app LINE has announced that it is shutting down the MixRadio music streaming service which it acquired over a year ago from Microsoft.



The brand said that after assessing MixRadio’s performance, and due to the financial challenges posed by the music streaming market, it has decided to shut down the service. The closure is not only due to financial reasons, as the company notes that the “priorities of Line Corporation” also played a part in the decision. “LINE has determined that future growth would be difficult to ensure and decided to discontinue the MixRadio music streaming service,” said the brand in a blog post.

The MixRadio app, which finally made its way to Android and iOS platforms in May last year, will close down in the coming weeks. For those unfamiliar, MixRadio was one of the first music streaming services back in the day. It was originally launched by Nokia to compete against the likes of Pandora and Spotify. Microsoft acquired Nokia’s phone business and MixRadio in the process in 2014, and sold it to LINE Corporation in December 2014.

Although MixRadio is being closed down, LINE continues to operate its Line Music service, which is currently only available in Japan and Thailand. It still owns the MixRadio assets and technology, which the company may utilise for its existing or future music streaming services.