Spotify has 124 million paying subscribers and takes over podcast network podcast
Spotify has announced that the streaming service now has 124 million paid users, out of a total of 271 million monthly active users. The service also announces it is acquiring the podcast network The Ringer.
Spotify reports in the presentation of the quarterly figures that it has had a good fourth quarter, with the company pointing to the 271 million monthly active users; that’s a 31 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2018 and a 9 percent increase compared to last year’s third quarter.
The number of paying users increased by 29 percent year-on-year and now stands at 124 million. This is an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous quarter. The number of users who use Spotify through advertisements and therefore without a paid subscription grew by 32 percent to 153 million.
The Swedish company emphasizes the importance of podcasts. According to Spotify, there is “exponential growth” in podcast consumption, with more than 16 percent of the 271 million monthly active users using the podcast offering. The consumption of this, measured in hours, grew by almost 200 percent in the past quarter compared to the same quarter a year earlier. The company does not say how many hours it is in total.
According to Spotify, there are now more than 700,000 different podcasts available on the streaming service. The company indicates that podcasts are important, among other things, because there is “increasing evidence” that users are making the switch from free user to paid subscriber by listening to podcasts.
Spotify has also announced that it will acquire The Ringer. This is a website and podcast network founded in 2016 by sports author Bill Simmons, which mainly focuses on sports and pop culture. The acquisition, for which the monetary amount has not been disclosed, is expected to close this quarter. The Ringer has about thirty different podcasts and about one hundred million downloads per month.
Spotify’s turnover in the past quarter amounted to 1.86 billion euros, an increase of 24 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. In contrast to the profit of 94 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2018, a loss of 77 million euros was incurred in the last three months of 2019.