Spotify currently has 205 million paying users. (agent)
Stockholm, Sweden:
Music streaming giant Spotify on Tuesday beat expectations for a total of 205 million paying subscribers by the end of 2022, but its losses deepened.
The Swedish company, which last week announced it was cutting around six percent of its workforce to reduce costs, posted a profit of 430 million euros ($465 million) for the year, compared with a loss of 34 million euros in 2021. ) posted a net loss of Rs.
Analysts had estimated a loss of 441 million euros, according to FactSet.
Around 1230 GMT, shares of Spotify, which is based in Stockholm but listed in New York, were up five percent in pre-market trading.
Revenue for the full year also slightly beat forecasts, coming in at 11.7 billion euros, or a 21 percent increase from a year earlier.
The number of paying customers rose 14 percent to 205 million, beating analysts’ expectations of 202 million, which the group attributed to strong growth across all regions, particularly in Latin America.
This is the first time that Spotify has crossed 200 million paying subscribers.
Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel Ek said the company “delivered great platform growth.”
“We finished 2022 on a strong note despite a challenging year,” Ek said in a post on Twitter.
Among other things, the company also said it benefited from increased promotional campaigns, a strong holiday season, and strong growth among Gen Z users.
Spotify said the total number of monthly users, including customers using the free version, totaled 489 million at the end of the year and should touch 500 million in 2023.
The platform has rarely turned a quarterly profit since its launch.
It has regularly posted annual losses, despite strong subscriber growth and a head start on its rivals such as Apple Music and Amazon Music.
One announced last week that the group was cutting about 600 jobs out of about 10,000, following similar moves by other tech industry giants.
Spotify has invested more than a billion euros in podcasting in recent years, but analysts say the company has yet to prove that investment is paying off.
Its venture into podcasts has also been a source of controversy, with American star Joe Rogan being accused of spreading misinformation on his show.
The doubts surrounding the platform have also been reflected in Spotify’s share price, which has lost nearly two-thirds of its value over the past two years.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Shah Rukh Khan’s signature pose and a Pathan-special dance