Spotify announced that they had achieved the milestone of 100 million paid subscribers. This is one of the most significant milestones for the company, as Spotify is the only service with 100 million paid subscribers, with Apple Music standing in the second place. Including the free subscribers, Spotify now serves more than 217 million users. The growth of 32 percent year-on-year was noted in the number of paid subscribers, which is impressive. Also, the numbers include the paid users from India, where the company launched just before a few months.
The nearest competitor of Spotify, which is Apple Music has half of what Spotify has. Currently, Apple Music has nearly 50 million paid users worldwide on all of the platforms. Although, Apple Music is a fan favorite in the United States, where the service is surpassing Spotify by nearly 2 million paid users. Apple Music has 28 million paid users in the United States, and Spotify has 26 million paid users. Majority of the paid subscribers are from the non-English countries like the European and Asian countries. Recently, Spotify started the podcasts, which allowed the company to tap the new audience and reach the 100 million mark faster than the competitors.
With the acquisition of Gimlet Media for podcasting division, the company’s aim of targetting the untapped audience unveiled. With the current growth rate, Spotify is expected to have 107 to 110 million paid subscribers by the end of this quarter and 227 million in total users. Even though the subscriber’s count is increasing, Spotify is encountering the financial losses. Last fiscal quarter, Spotify reported the losses of $158.3 million. The aggressive promotion of the services with freebies like Google Home Speaker for Family Account subscribers and the acquisition of the companies is forcing the company to encounter the losses.
