Wall Street Journal: Spotify has closed a massive new round of funding from a wide range of global investors who are betting it can fend off a new threat from Apple. The music-streaming company closed a $526 million round of funding valuing it at $8.53 billion, said a person familiar with the matter. Spotify is investing in expansion and new forms of content as it faces a growing set of challengers that now includes Apple Music. Spotify said that it now has more than 20 million paying subscribers out of 75 million active monthly users.