Spotify, the world’s most popular streaming service, continues to grow at an unbelievable rate, and it has significant plans for expansion in 2020.
Spotify released its Q4 earnings report this week. The data tells us not only how the service performed at the end of 2019 but also provides a glimpse at the last year as a whole. The streaming giant is the market leader, and the latest numbers show the company is likely to remain ahead of the competition.
According to the report, Spotify now has more than 124 million premium monthly subscribers worldwide, up 29% year over year. The company gained more than 10 million subscribers in the last quarter, marking the fastest growth period in Spotify history. That success is attributed, at least in part, to an expansion of the platform’s famous “Three months for free” trial period that now includes family plans.
Ad-supported monthly Spotify users now total 153 million, up 32% on the year, and 9% on the quarter. The numbers confirm the Stockholm, Sweden-based company’s big lead over its two closest rivals – Apple Music had more than 60 million subscribers as of July 2019, and Amazon had over 55 million subscribers globally.
Revenue has risen to $2.05 billion (1.86 billion euros), up 24% from a year earlier. Analysts are predicting a slightly higher revenue for Q1 of 2020, but Spotify is trying to keep investor expectations relatively calm, estimating income relatively in line with Q4.
Spotify also announced this week that it plans to purchase Bill Simmons’ sports and pop-culture news organization The Ringer as part of its quest to claim podcast dominance. The company did not disclose what it would pay for The Ringer, which launched in 2016, but the deal is set to close in April 2020.
For more insight and analysis, let’s turn to Music Biz News host James Shotwell:
