LINE Corp, the Japanese company behind the messaging app of the same name, announced it is acquiring Microsoft’s MixRadio, a free music streaming service that allows users to create a personal radio station, as part of a strategy to expand and become “an integral part of consumers’ daily lives.”

MixRadio, which said it will continue to collaborate with Microsoft as a third party service on Lumia smartphones, has begun expansion across new devices and platforms such as home audio and wearables. It has also launched a recommendation engine to deliver personalised music listening.

The company said it “firmly believes LINE is the optimal partner to support the company’s future expansion and development”. No financial details for the deal were disclosed.

LINE has 170 million monthly active users in 230 countries while MixRadio said it has millions of listeners across 31 countries.

In October, LINE formed a new company with Avex Digital and Sony Music Entertainment, with the goal of creating a new subscription-based music streaming service — something that the acquisition of MixRadio would clearly support.

LINE last week introduced a payment functionality to its messaging platform worldwide. The company’s COO Takeshi Idezawa previously told Mobile World Live that the company plans to use payments as a hub around which to base a raft of new services, some of which were announced in October.