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INTERNET

Spotify hits 2.5 million subscriber milestone

Swedish online music star Spotify said Wednesday ahead of a mystery announcement next week that it has reached 2.5 million paying subscribers.

Spotify hits 2.5 million subscriber milestone

“Fanfare! Drum roll! Yes, we’re excited to announce that we’ve now welcomed 2.5 million paying subscribers to the service,” Spotify said in a blog post.

Spotify, which launched in Europe in 2008 and expanded to the United States

in July, did not provide a country-by-country breakdown for subscribers to the

music streaming service.

Spotify had 1.6 million paying subscribers in June and much of its recent growth appears to have come from its availability in the United States and an integration with Facebook in September.

Spotify, which boasts a catalogue of more than 15 million songs for listening on computers or mobile phones, has more than 10 million registered users.

Spotify has invited reporters to attend a press conference in New York on November 30th with chief executive and co-founder Daniel Ek.

“What’s next for Spotify?” the invitation teased without providing further details.

Last week, Spotify expanded to Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.

Spotify offers three services: a free, ad-supported streaming service, an ad-free $4.99 a month plan for computer listening, and a $9.99 a month plan allowing subscribers to download as many songs as they want to a mobile phone.

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BUSINESS

Spotify posts net loss of 430 million euros – but beats expectations

Swedish music streaming giant Spotify reports deepening losses, but for the first time climbed past 200 million paying subscribers.

Spotify posts net loss of 430 million euros – but beats expectations

The Swedish company, which last week announced it was cutting almost six percent of its workforce to reduce costs, posted a net loss of 430 million euros ($465 million) for the year.

Analysts had forecast a loss of 441 million euros, according to Factset.

Revenue for the full-year also slightly beat forecasts, coming in at 11.7 billion euros or a rise of 21 percent from a year earlier.

The number of paying subscribers climbed by 14 percent to 205 million, beating analysts’ expectations of 202 million, which the group attributed to strong growth in all regions, especially in Latin America.

It is the first time Spotify has surpassed 200 million paying subscribers.

Among other things, the company said it had benefited from promotional campaigns, a strong holiday season, and robust growth among Gen Z users.

The total number of monthly users, including subscribers using the free version, totalled 489 million at the end of the year and should hit the 500 million mark in 2023, Spotify said.

The platform, based in Stockholm but listed in New York, has only occasionally posted a quarterly profit since its launch.

It has regularly posted annual losses, despite strong subscriber growth and having had a headstart on its rivals such as Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel Ek last week announced the group was cutting around 600 jobs, out of around 10,000, following other similar moves by tech industry giants.

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