With 236 Million Premium Users, Spotify Hits Record Subscribers

Throughout 2023, Spotify's user base and premium subscribers grew by 113 million and 31 million, respectively.

Swedish music streaming giant on Tuesday posted its results and in its fourth quarter earnings release, the company said that it now has 236 million Spotify Premium subscribers, marking a 4 per cent increase from the previous quarter. This is for the December-ending quarter. Additionally, the total number of monthly active users (MAUs) rose by 5 per cent to hit 602 million.

Throughout 2023, Spotify's user base and premium subscribers grew by 113 million and 31 million, respectively, setting new records for the Swedish music giant. Despite introducing its first price hike in 12 years, raising the monthly subscription to $10.99 in 2023 from the previous $9.99 in the US, Spotify continued to witness growth.

Last year, Spotify generated 3.7 billion euros (approximately $4 billion) in revenue, representing a 16 per cent increase compared to 2022. Despite this growth, the company reported an operating loss of 75 million euros. However, it highlighted a significant achievement with its advertising revenues reaching an all-time high of 501 million euros.

"Excluding one-time charges, we generated 68 million euros in adjusted operating profit, which is more than double the third quarter as the business continues momentum towards sustainable growth and profitability,” Spotify said in a statement.

The price increase, addition of new subscribers and three rounds of layoffs throughout last year has contributed to narrowing Spotify's losses. Advertising revenue surged to 501 million euros (approximately $538 million) in the quarter, marking an all-time high, as highlighted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Based on internal data, 225 million users engaged with Spotify Wrapped, a year-end campaign offering personalised summaries of each user's listening habits. Additionally, all paying customers in the United States now have access to a selection of more 200,000 audiobooks, with up to 15 hours of access per month.