Spotify Expects to Hit 450 Million Listeners By October
Spotify expects that its active listener base will hit 450 million by October, the music streaming service said in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday, after finishing June with 188 million subscribers and 433 million active listeners who visit the service at least once a month.
Even as Spotify girds for the possibility of economic slowdown, “it’s hard to be anything but optimistic given what I’m currently seeing,” CEO Daniel Ek said during a call to discuss results. The latest figures reiterate Spotify‘s dominance in subscription music around the world. Its No.
2 competitor, Apple Music, doesn’t routinely disclose its paid membership and hasn’t offered an update in more than three years, obscuring just how much of a lead Spotify may have. Back in June 2019, Apple said its service had 60 million subscribers. (According to music industry researcher MIDiA, Apple holds about 15% of the world’s subscription music market; Spotify’s share is more than double that.) Looking ahead, Spotify also predicted that it will have 194 million paid subscribers by the end of the third quarter.
Sweden-based Spotify reported a loss of 125 million euros (£127 million), or 85 cents a share, widening from a loss of 20 million euros, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 23% percent to 2.864 billion euros in the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv estimated a 63 cent loss on 2.813 billion euros in revenue.
Spotify stock was up 7.7% at £112 a share in recent premarket trading.