Online entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the duo behind Skype, Joost and Kazaa, have revealed that they are developing a new subscription-based music service called Rdio.
The New York Times reports that the new venture has set up shop in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and is poised to market the service online and to mobile devices by early next year.
The venture is in talks with major labels and it is presumed that it will compete with services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster and the UK’s Spotify, which is about to launch into the US market. Rdio has been funded by VC firm Atomico Ventures and has appointed a CEO, Drew Larner.
Separately, Joost and Joltd, another Zennstrom-Friis company, have applied for an injunction against former Joost CEO Michelangelo Volpi and Volpi’s current employer, VC firm Index Ventures, All Things Digital reports.
They are demanding that he not use confidential information he in dealings with Skype. Index is one of a group of companies that paid $2 billion (€1.4 billion) to buy Skype in September.