Spotify saw the number of Premium users increase strongly in the fourth quarter of 2020. The music streaming service broke the 150 million subscriber milestone for the first time.
In October, we reported that Spotify had passed the 300 million user mark for the first time. Although impressive, the number is now outdated, as Spotify experienced tremendous growth in the fourth quarter. Thus, the number of monthly active users rose to 345 million. An increase of no less than 27 percent compared to the same quarter in 2019. In terms of Premium subscribers, there was a growth of 24 percent to 155 million members.
Less turnover per user
The Wall Street Journal took a closer look at these figures and noted that the turnover per user fell by about 8 percent to 4.26 euros. That is not an immediate problem for Spotify, because it is the result of the many discounts that the company offers. Think of the “0.99 euros for 3 months” deal that we saw appearing several times in 2020. The streaming service is also active in Russia and India, where the subscription price is lower anyway.
Despite the rising user numbers, Spotify still had to report a loss of 125 million euros. That’s less than the 209 million in the previous year, but still substantial. A large part of the costs that Spotify incurs are due to investments in the future. For example, there is still a lot of effort on podcasts and audiobooks.
Streaming podcasts on Spotify?
Spotify also has something to announce later this month. That will happen during the digital “Stream On” event on February 22nd. The hope of podcasters worldwide is currently that they will be able to go live on the platform instead of just using it as a distribution platform for their content. A move that will undoubtedly attract new users to Spotify.
