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Spotify Now Has 130 Million Paid Subscribers, Still Lost $18 Million Last Quarter

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Spotify’s paid subscriber base and revenues continue to grow while the company loses money overall, according to its recently-released quarterly earnings report.

In a Billboard article summarizing the quarterly report, which covers January 1 through March 31, Spotify grew its user base to 130 million paid subscribers (and 286 million total monthly active users, including those using the free, ad-supported version). Total revenue in the first quarter was €1.85 billion ($1.99 billion), up 22% from the same period in 2019.

Subscriber income grew 23% to €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion). Ad-supported revenues grew 17% year over year to €148 million, but fell short of Spotify’s forecasts due to changes in listening habits brought on by the coronavirus pandemic during the final weeks of March. The company cautioned that ad revenues would continue to take a hit in the coming months as buyers pulled back across the board.

Further, the company said it saw a “notable decline” in listenership in certain markets, but that in the last few weeks numbers had begun to tick up again. The biggest declines came on car, wearable, and web platforms, while usage on TV and gaming consoles grew more than 50%.

Nevertheless, the company remains optimistic about its growth and business model. “Overall, despite some changes in listening patterns, we are encouraged with the trends we are seeing and continue to be optimistic about the underlying growth fundamentals of the business.”

Numbers released in February for the entire calendar year 2019 reported a loss of €186 million ($203 million USD) from 124 million paid subscribers (and 271 million active monthly users). In 2018, Spotify had 96 million paid subscribers and 207 million active monthly users.

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