Spotify may have decided to delay an IPO for another year, and is getting help from Goldman Sachs for a round of private fundraising that aims to raise around $500 million, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

Sources have revealed that investors have heard of valuations of over $7 billion and that the music streaming service is in talks with companies like mutual-fund operator T Rowe Price Group that buy into companies ahead of an IPO.

The company may also have offered investors ‘ratchet’ provisions, which means they are guaranteed a return if an IPO was to take place, reports the Journal.

Spotify has not made any comment on the matter.

The company lets users stream music for free, while its $9.99 per month ‘premium’ version has the added benefit of offline listening, no ads and better sound quality.

The company pays around 70 per cent of its revenue as royalties to artists and companies that hold the rights to the music.

This month, Spotify said it has signed 15 million paid users, up 50 per cent from May. In November, Spotify said it had generated €747 million ($842 million) in revenue in 2013 and lost €57.8 million ($65 million).

However, analysts have said that users of music services don’t look at the screen while music is playing, and this makes them less valuable to advertisers.

Spotify may also face some competition this year from Apple’s Beats Music service, set to be relaunched as part of iTunes, and Google’s upcoming video-based music subscription service, YouTube Music Key.

In separate news today, musician Jay Z tabled a $56 million bid for Aspiro, the Scandinavian company behind streaming services WiMP and Tidal.