Spotify published the quarterly results of the last three months last night (Apple’s turn tomorrow night). The report shows, among other things, that the music streaming provider now has 195 million premium subscribers and thus paying customers. Additionally, Spotify currently has 456 million monthly active users.
Spotify presents quarterly data
If you look at the sheer number of subscribers and users, Spotify continues to develop excellently. At the end of the last quarter, the music streaming service had 195 million paying users. Compared to the same period last year, this corresponds to an increase of 13 percent. Monthly active users are still growing sharply. The company now has 456 million MAUs. This corresponds to a strong 20 percent increase in a year-over-year comparison. In both areas, Spotify has exceeded its expectations.
Total sales increased 21% year-on-year to $ 3 billion increased, sales with premium customers grew 22% to $ 2.7 billion. Ad revenue increased 19% to $ 385 million, driven by podcast revenue. However, the company reported a loss of $ 228 million.
For the current quarter, Spotify expects the number of premium subscribers to increase by 7 million to 202 million. Monthly active users are expected to increase by 23 million users to 479 million users. A loss of $ 300 million is expected for the current quarter.
After Apple recently hiked prices for Apple Music and Co., it should only be a matter of time before Spotify and other providers raise their subscription prices as well. Such a step would be perfectly understandable to us. Spotify has been using 9.99 euros for a single subscription for many, many years.
Spotify versus Apple
For several years, Apple and Spotify have had controversies from time to time. Now there is a new conflict. This time it’s a Spotify app update focused on audiobooks. Apple is said to have rejected it three times because the app did not meet App Store rules. Spotify Daniel Ek writes Twitter
Apple continues to put its competitors at a disadvantage and the impact is enormous – on consumers, app developers, and now authors and publishers. Nothing will change without political action. I can’t be the only one who sees the absurdity.
The current controversy involved Spotify apparently trying to circumvent the App Store rules. The app should have a button that users may have used to request links to online purchases outside the app store. In an opposite statement Macrumor Apple recorded the following:
The App Store was designed to be a great business opportunity for developers, and we fully support initiatives to introduce new features into apps that provide lasting value to users. We have no issues with reading apps that add audiobook content to their apps, link users to websites to sign up for services, or communicate with customers externally about alternative purchase options. The Spotify app was disapproved for failing to follow guidelines to include explicit in-app communications to direct users to make digital purchases outside of the app. We gave them clear guidance on how to fix the problem and approved their app after making changes that made them compliant.
