Spotify Looking To Pick A Bank For Its IPO In April Or May

Spotify is planning an IPO for fall of this year, according to Quartz, which heard from a source "with the process" who believes banks will make pitches to handle the stock offering in April or May.

The move was expected: The company had previously advertised for an "External Reporting Specialist" who would be required to "prepare the company for SEC filing standards. Set up all reports necessary to be SEC compliant."

It also took on a $200 million credit facility from its banks, another common move for companies preparing to go public.

A filing will give us the first detailed look at its finances. Previous estimates from observers and disclosures from the company itself have indicated that the company is likely unprofitable on gross revenues of around $720 million a year, presumably in 2013. That number would be up from revenues of more than the $602 million generated in 2012, according to Reuters. It had a net loss of $81.62 million (€58.7 million) that year.

Spotify is valued at $7-8 billion, Reuters said, and it has raised $538 million from investors.

Competition in the music streaming business has become more intense of late. The field has long been dominated by Pandora, which has about $638 million in annual revenues. Pandora has been so successful it has stolen music revenues from Apple's iTunes, which itself recently got into the music streaming business with iTunes Radio - an app that's almost a direct copy of Pandora.

Spotify also recently acquired The Echo nest, a music intelligence service that predicts what type of music you'd like to listen to next.