Spotify Reaches 100M Paid Users

Amid launches in Middle East, India and North Africa in recent times, Spotify Technology SA reached a milestone 100 million paid subscribers for the music streaming company’s premium offering. The news sent the company’s shares rising 5 percent, Reuters reported.

The number of paying or premium subscribers on the service had risen from 75 million the prior year. And analysts had forecasted 99 million paid subscribers for the service. It was also reported that North America contributed to a 30 percent share of total paid subscribers, while Europe clocked in at 40 percent. Prior to the close of the current quarter, the company forecasts it will have premium subscribers numbering roughly 107 million to 110 million.

In March, Spotify indicated that it had had 217 million monthly active users (MAUs). That marked an increase from 173 million in the same quarter the prior year. Analysts forecasted that the firm would have 218.6 million subscribers.

In other recent Spotify news, it was reported earlier this month that Amazon is planning to launch a free ad-supported music service caused shares of Spotify to drop 4 percent on April 15. The eCommerce company would reportedly have a music service that is free via Echo speakers. As it stood at the time, the company had a Prime Music service that came with its Prime subscription service in addition to Amazon Music unlimited subscriptions.

And, in March, Spotify Technology announced that it was acquiring storytelling-driven podcast studio Parcast for an undisclosed sum. Spotify noted that Parcast’s expertise in areas such as science fiction, mystery and crime, among others, will help advance its goal to lead in the audio platform market. Parcast has produced podcasts including “Unsolved Murders,” “Serial Killers,” “Cults” and “Conspiracy Theories” and the studio’s first fiction series, “Mind’s Eye.” The firm has over 20 new shows planned to roll out this year.

“The addition of Parcast to our growing roster of podcast content will advance our goal of becoming the world’s leading audio platform,” Spotify Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff said in a March press release. “Crime and mystery podcasts are a top genre for our users and Parcast has had significant success creating hit series while building a loyal and growing fan base.”