The music streaming platform has reported its financial results. And growth was there.
Indeed, the Swedish company has 299 million active users, including 138 million paying subscribers. That is an increase of 29% and 27%, respectively, in one year. Not (too much) worry about Covid-19, so, on the side of the department headed by Daniel Ek: “Our business performed well in the second quarter and continues to perform at a high level, despite continuing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.”
On the financial side, if Spotify announces an increase in operating costs of around 48%, combined with a 21% decrease in advertising revenue (where the pandemic hit the hardest), and net losses of 356 million euros (against 76 million at the same period in 2019), the platform nevertheless recorded turnover up 12% in one year, and reached 1.89 billion euros.
The main competitor of Apple Music also forecasts growth for the second half of the year, with a number of active users expected to exceed the 300 million mark in the third quarter(Spotify is working on 312 to 317 million). Logically, Spotify also expects an increase in paid accounts, which could be between 140 and 144 million. In the fourth quarter, the company envisions 328-348 million active users, and targets 146-153 million paying subscribers.
Finally, on the podcast side, the figures are positive and encouraging. 21% of users now listen to podcasts on the platform, compared to 19% in the previous quarter. Spotify also specifies that of the 1.5 million podcasts in its catalog (including exclusives like The Joe Rogan Experience, or Michelle Obama’s podcast), half was added at the start of 2020.
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