Spotify now has more than 100 million paying subscribers.
Its Stockholm headquarters noted that paying subscribers rose 32% during the first three months of 2019, with the financial release seeing that it hit its “high end” of its forecasted 97 million. On a monthly basis, Spotify noted that its average users grew 26% to 217 million, with the company battling for music streaming domination with Amazon, Apple, and other competitors such as Pandora. The Wall Street Journal recently recorded that Apple Music has surpassed Spotify in the United States, with more than 28 million paid subscribers to Spotify’s 26 million. Globally, however, Spotify has easily crushed Apple Music sheer numbers of paid subscribers.
What Drove Spotify’s Growth?
In its first-quarter earnings report, Spotify has recorded 217 million users, with 100 million being paid subscribers. Spotify also recorded that it generated revenues of €1.5 billion, which translates to about $1.7 billion.
Several factors have contributed to the company’s augmentation and increasing market share. One of these factors is Spotify spotlighting their family plans, where groups of people can subscribe to Spotify for a discounted price. Spotify gave these subscribers a free Google Home Mini as well as an affordable Spotify Premium and Hulu package for $9.99 a month. The conglomerate is also expecting additional growth from its partnership with Samsung, which was announced in 2018. With the help of Samsung, the Spotify app will be preloaded onto millions of Samsung products globally, including the Galaxy S10 series, with the purchase of the phone including a six-month trial of Spotify Premium.
Also, Spotify’s main competitor is Apple Music — and it knows this. Spotify has a free plan with advertisements, while Apple Music does not — it is solely available only to those who have a subscription.
Spotify’s Future
India is one of the more coveted markets for music streaming services. India’s music industry is anticipating Spotify’s arrival, with the streaming service finally arriving in February 2019. Spotify noted the transition as a success, stating that it signed an additional million users within seven days. Since then, that number has doubled.
While it has successfully onboard new subscribers, the move has been somewhat stifled with litigation and disputes. Music licensing disputes has been a potential sign of friction for global music services who want to maximize profit. Just as Spotify was expanding in India, several music producers sued the company, stating that it did not secure the rights to include certain songs.
This sort of battle between Spotify and licensing agreements have been spotlighted with a recent battle between the Swedish company and three major music groups. While Spotify eventually came to an agreement with Sony Music and Universal Music Group, it has stumbled to come to an agreement with Warner Music Group. Spotify eventually claimed a statutory license that was designed for broadcasters, with the two corporations at a current stalemate.
