Sweden's Spotify reported stronger-than-expected growth in active users on Tuesday, a day after the music streaming giant announced a rate hike.
In the 12 months to the middle of this year, Spotify's total active users grew by 27 percent, according to the report. to 551 million, that is 21 million more than expected. Paying subscribers increased by 17 percent. up to 220 million – three million more than forecast.
The company announced on Monday that it is raising prices for premium subscribers "in many markets around the world," following the lead of rival music streaming services from Apple and Amazon.
Despite the surge in users, Spotify reported a widening of its operating loss in the second quarter of this year to $247 million. EUR from 194 million euros at the same time last year. The company explained that this was "primarily impacted by charges related to our actions to streamline operations and reduce costs."
In early June, Spotify announced that it was cutting podcasts. podcast) activities, which will result in about 200 layoffs, which is approximately 2 percent. workers. The move follows a decision earlier this year to cut 600 jobs simply by following the lead of rivals.
Spotify has invested more than $1 billion in recent years. euros in the production of podcasts, but analysts criticized that the company did not prove that these investments would pay off. In 2017, it had about 3 thousand. employees, and at the end of 2022 - already 9,8 thousand.
Despite its success in the online music market, Spotify has never posted a full-year net profit and has only occasionally recorded a quarterly profit.
Editor Svajūnas Laukineitis
