Samsung buys Roon to create its own Spotify, but it goes much further: this is how it will affect you

Samsung is diving headlong into competing against other platforms that have their own sound system, including a streaming music application. Through their subsidiary Harman, they have purchased the Roon companywhich has an ecosystem of services for audiophiles.

The ad calls Roon a music player for music enthusiastswith a very complete interface that is designed to play music in the best possible quality.

That Samsung wants to compete against Spotify or Apple Music is something that was expected. The South Korean company, like Apple or Google, wants to have its own ecosystem that integrates as many services as possible, including music.

But Roon is much more than a simple Spotify competitor, although it has an application to play music, this company also develops a server focused on music enthusiasts called Nucleus.

Room Server can also be synchronized with services such as TIDAL, Qobuz and KKBOX. It can even be installed on personal computers or servers (NAS).

This announcement is interpreted as a move by Samsung to enter a niche world like that of audiophiles. But it gives South Koreans the opportunity to explore a world of music that includes their own streaming application, speakers thanks to Harman products and, in addition, proposals for people who prefer to store their music in high fidelity formats. All, obviously, charging a subscription.

Samsung is committed to completing a platform, more than a single service

The Samsung acquisition is different from what has been seen in other similar movements. Apple bought Beats, a headphone maker, for $3 billion for its brand and its streaming app that later became Apple Music.

Square, the retail payments company of Jack Dorsey, also the founder of Twitter, acquired Tidal for $297 million. In both cases, none of them has a platform as complete as it is.

It is estimated that Spotify has more than 551 million active users per month, of which 220 million are subscribers in any of its formats, whether paying for a normal subscription, a student subscription, for couples or a family plan.

Apple, for its part, has about 88 million paying subscribers (as of mid-2023) as it does not have a free plan. Even Google already has more than 80 million subscribers to YouTube Music.

Samsung does not have any similar platform, so Roon would give you a continuous source of income over time by subscriptions. Although Roon’s concept is closer today to a Plex than a Spotify, the opportunity to turn it into its similar streaming service is present.

In addition, Samsung would also compete directly with another audio expert company, Sonoswhich has a streaming platform, connection with other platforms on the market and a complete catalog of audio products.

Samsung users may have a future surprise on their mobile phones, televisions and even smart refrigerators in the future with Roon. The platform as a music server is more than interesting, but as a streaming platform it can add much more value to having a Samsung product.