According to its new quarterly report, Spotify continues to be the world's largest music streaming platform. But, dropping numbers in the U.S and a continued loss in profits shows that it's not all plain sailing for the music giant.
Over 100 million users across the globe now pay for Spotify Premium.
A couple of days ago, the company announced that it had reached a new milestone. Not only did Spotify grow its paid subscribers by 32 percent annually (including free subscribers), but it has now reached a total of 217 million monthly active users.
The new achievement is further strengthened by the two million Indian users that joined when the company launched its service there earlier in the year.
On the other hand, Spotify’s biggest competition, Apple Music, reportedly had 50 million paid users globally at the end of the first quarter of 2019. With 100 million people paying for Spotify’s service worldwide, the company appears to be way ahead in the music streaming service business.
However, the story is different in the United States.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Spotify has 26 million subscribers in the U.S, compared to Apple’s 28 million. By the end of the second quarter of 2019, Spotify says it expects to have between 222 to 228 million subscribers. This includes about 107 to 110 million premium users.
Despite these big numbers, the company is still losing money.
Spotify posted a $158.3 million loss within the January to March quarter. The music streaming company also recorded a similar figure during the first quarter of 2018.
Spotify’s Podcasting Ambition
Aside from showing an increase in subscribers, Spotify’s latest earnings also shed more light on the company’s podcasting goals. By further developing the advertising model for its podcasting platform, the company hopes to increase targeting, measurement, as well as its reporting capabilities.
Depending on the user being targeted, Spotify intends to allow podcast producers to place different ads in their content. Reports reveal that it’ll be similar to the ads you hear when listening to ad-supported music.
Earlier this year, Spotify added two podcasting companies – Gimlet and Anchor – to its previously acquired Parcast.
With a quarter of a million podcasting titles, the music streaming company may be on its way to dominating the podcasting service as well.
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