Germany’s Simfy streaming service loses Warner catalogue

Germany’s third-biggest streaming service Simfy has lost the music catalogue of one of the three major labels.

Warner Music is among a handful of labels whose catalogue hasn’t featured on the service since the end of January. This could greatly impact Simfy’s promise to customers; its website boasts the text: “Enjoy over 25 million songs from all of the major and independent labels,” however when customers click on the Warner Playlist, the site takes you to an error page, and when they click on a Warner Music artist or album, they’re told “many titles are now currently unavailable”.

Warner Music confirmed the news with German business news publication Wirtschaftswoche, but it hasn’t stated whether the blockage is long-term or temporary.

Simfy was founded in 2006 and following its licensing of all four (at the time) major labels in 2010, grew to become the third largest service in the territory behind Spotify and Deezer.

Warner’s growth revenue report for 2014 showed that in the last three months of the year its revenue from recorded streaming increased by 102%, and streaming revenue grew by $US69 million.