Spotify is pressing play on a new $220M round at a $4B valuation

Streaming music service Spotify is currently seeking a new mega-round of funding that could more than triple the startup’s current valuation, according to a New York Times report.

Spotify was previously estimated to hold a $1 billion valuation after closing a $100 million round in June 2011. The new funding round, which we first reported rumors of back in March, could end up being as high as $220 million, pushing the music startup’s valuation up to $4 billion. The startup may take several weeks to close the new round.

As for participation, Goldman Sachs is said to account for nearly $100 million of the new round, with Spotify still reportedly in discussion with many other firms.

Spotify’s strategy is built on a freemium business model, bringing in both advertising-based and subscription-based revenue. Because of its social features, which allow people to share playlists and listen and share tunes through Facebook, Spotify has been able to stay ahead of streaming competitors like Pandora, Rdio, MOG, and others.

The service has experienced massive growth in the last year, attributed in large part to the international company’s expansion of service into the U.S. as well as its integration with Facebook’s Timeline. The service has more than 3 million paying subscribers, a third of which are in the U.S. alone. But the company experienced $96 million in losses over its two years of existence due to pricey music licensing fees, which has caused some to speculate on its ability to generate a profit in the near future.

Founded in 2009, the Stockholm, Sweden-based startup has raised a total of $189 million to date from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners, DST Global, Sean Parker, and others.