Deezer buys Stitcher to sneak into burgeoning in-car streaming market

Streaming music provider Deezer has purchased Stitcher, a web- and mobile-based radio and podcast service, for an undisclosed sum.

Stitcher is one of most popular places for North Americans to listen to live radio and podcast programming, with roughly a million active users listening to 35,000 shows. While the company has found minor success in the mobile space, it’s likely that Deezer is looking to sneak into the in-car streaming market with Stitcher, which has forged relationships with Ford, GM, Mazda, BMW and Jaguar, as well as Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto.

Deezer has operated in Canada since 2012, but recently shut down its dedicated support and sales team, shifting everything to its US office.

Integration between Deezer and Stitcher will begin next year, but for the moment both will continue to operate independently.

[source]Deezer[/source]