Spotify Dominates Apple, Amazon With 124M Premium Subscribers

As Spotify took on Amazon and Apple by launching promotions, the music streaming company registered a higher-than-expected 29 percent jump in premium subscribers in Q4 of 2019. Analysts, on average, were forecasting 122 million paid subscribers, but the company’s premium subscribers clocked in at 124 million for the quarter concluding on Dec. 31, Reuters reported.

Spotify has had a formidable lead against its two nearest competitors. Apple Music had over 60 million subscribers as of June, while Amazon had more than 55 million subscribers. Spotify launched several marketing campaigns during the quarter: One was a win-back offer for returning customers, while the other was a “three months on us” introduction promotion for new subscribers.

The firm predicted that Q1 subscriber numbers would largely follow estimates, with expected total premium subscribers in the neighborhood of 126 million to 131 million compared to an estimate of 128 million, per FactSet.

Spotify brought on 64 million new customers in the entirety of 2019, much greater than the 25 million it brought on in 2018. The music streaming company registered a 1.14 euro-per-share loss for the quarter. It has been losing funds as it pays out the lion’s share of its sales to record labels and other music owners.

In October, Spotify exceeded Q3 2019 revenue expectations and posted a surprise profit as it added more premium service subscribers than expected. It had reportedly “outstripped” Apple Music in the race to dominate music streaming globally, with its number of premium subscribers having increased by 26 million over the past year to reach 113 million at the conclusion of September.

Since rolling out its product over a decade ago, Spotify has been able to overcome the resistance of some music artists and large record labels to help change how consumers listen to music.