Spotify Hits 60 Million Paid Subscribers Ahead of Going Public

Monday July 31, 2017 2:13 pm PDT by Juli Clover
As it prepares to go public, Spotify has reached 60 million paid subscribers, reports TechCrunch. The 60 million mark comes nearly five months after the company announced its 50 million paid subscriber milestone in March.

When adding in customers who listen to the free ad-supported tier, Spotify has more than 140 million subscribers worldwide. Comparatively, Apple Music now boasts 27 million paying subscribers, a number Apple shared at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.


Since its 2015 debut, Apple Music has been growing steadily by luring customers with exclusive album releases, concerts, and original television programming, but it does not offer a free tier like Spotify. Apple Music subscriptions start at $9.99 per month after a three-month free trial.

Spotify paid subscriptions are also priced at $9.99 per month, and in 2016, Spotify's revenue grew over 50 percent to $3.3 billion.

In the near future, Spotify plans to go public through a direct listing, forgoing the traditional initial public offering and making existing Spotify shares available to the public. With this method, likened to an elopement instead of a full-on wedding, Spotify avoids the fanfare of an IPO and does not have to hire an underwriter. Spotify is expected to initiate its direct listing in 2018.

Tag: Spotify
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The Clark
32 months ago
I just got Spotify and it's awesome. Very intuitive interface and such a wide variety of music.
Rating: 17 Votes
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Asarien
32 months ago
Great for them. Us Apple fanboys need Spotify as competition more than ever with Eddy Cue still at large.
Rating: 15 Votes
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itsmilo
32 months ago
I love Spotify so much more than Apple Music which i got 6 months for free through my provider.

Their playlists are so much better and the categories to choose from actually make sense unlike AM which just seems random and cluttered with way too much scrolling involved.

Plus i love how you can pick up the music on one device but play it on another remotely and of course they got a browser based version for work too!

It would be a pity for only Apple to survive. Competition is good. Imagine what Apple would charge if they had their way
Rating: 9 Votes
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Warddijk
32 months ago
Do they count in the ‘3 months for .99 cents’ subscribers as paid subscribers?
Rating: 8 Votes
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WRChris
32 months ago
In 2 years Apple has half the users? I'd be pretty worried if I was Spotify...I don't think podcasts are going to help much either.
Rating: 6 Votes
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OldSchoolMacGuy
32 months ago

And it's yet to come to countries like India. I wonder why.


This is generally because of the record companies. They only allow their music to be distributed to certain countries depending on the agreement.

Don't you think Spotify and others would open themselves up to making more money by adding additional countries if they could? "Nah, we've got enough money. Let's limit our service and not make any more cash.
Rating: 6 Votes
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alfonsog
32 months ago
I really like Amazon Music Unlimited, doing the free trial. I have an Apple Music family plan. I don’t use the playlists or ‘musicology’ as I just search for albums I’d like to hear but 95% of the time I listen to Music I own. I mostly listen to classical music.
Rating: 5 Votes
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kto1243
32 months ago
Simple - Apple pays the musicians, Spotify does not (and is involved in a number of ongoing lawsuits). Google David Lowery (lead man in Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and a prof at University of Georgia, Athens) and read his Trichordist blog. If you like music, make sure the musicians who worked much harder than you know get paid. Cracker had 4 #1 hits and get millions of spins on Spotify, for which the receive little or nothing.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Dougie Jones
32 months ago
Tested spotify, google music and apple music: conclusion - apple music is way, way (... ∞ times) better.
Rating: 4 Votes
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applesith
32 months ago
Who is going to invest in this company that continues to lose money selling and giving away a commodity like music? Anyone have a link to a resource that shows when they expect to be profitable? They seem to get more free users way faster than paid. How does that ever make them profitable?
Rating: 4 Votes

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