Japan’s super-cute and massively popular messaging service LINE recently announced the acquisition of Microsoft’s MixRadio for an undisclosed price. This move comes just a week after Line Corp. entered into a deal with Sony Music Entertainment Inc., and Japanese record label Avex Digital Inc, to start streaming music.

LINE took messaging into a different direction when it was launched in 2011 by fusing Japan’s widely exported cute phenomenon with sending short missives to people. Creating its own cartoon/sticker love story that features an emotionally unpredictable pairing of a bear and rabbit as a marketing tool, the app quickly became the chatter’s choice in many Asian countries reaching 200 million users in its first two years. The service presently reaches 560 million users, with 170 million of those with active user accounts…The stickers have become such a hit they’ve even become the focus of a theme park in Taiwan.

Yesterday Microsoft wrote about its deal with LINE stating, “We wanted MixRadio to continue to operate with a commitment to constant innovation and aspiration to deliver the best possible mobile-first experience to listeners. LINE share this vision and our passion for simple, personal and fun user experiences in every way.”

LINE’s multi-platform vision so far has proved to be one of perspicacity. The company not only made good use of marketing ‘cute’, but offered tons of likeable serious and silly features. There is a list of games you can play on LINE, lots of media sharing features, voice and video calls, self-destructing messages, a timeline, and you can also use the service to follow celebs and various brands. Japanese users may be able to book taxis and have food delivered if LINE’s plans come together. The service is still quite a way off beating What’sApp and WeChat in terms of active users, but this new move will likely help even out the spread, and should also be a signal that Asia tech firms mean business on western soil. While ‘cute’ may arguably not impress western users as much as it does those in Asia, LINE has reported that it’s attracted a growing number of fans in Latin America, Mexico and Spain. The odds are that if LINE keeps coming up with more treats for its users it has a good chance of scoring out the competition in the not too distant future.

Photo credit:  賀 禎禎 via photopin cc