Spotify's Revenue and Subscribers Skyrocket Based on Q1 Report

Spotify reports 130 million paid subscribers as quarterly revenue jumps 22%.

Streaming giant Spotify has announced an extremely successful first quarter despite navigating troubles associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the three months prior to March 31st, Spotify increased its revenue by 22% and gained over 130 million paid subscribers and 286 million total monthly active users. With those numbers ending around the time the stay-at-home orders were put into place, the growth is due to continue.  

One target that did see a negative impact from the current state of affairs was Spotify's ad revenue, particularly in the last three weeks of March. Ad-supported revenues grew 17% but fell short of Spotify's forecasts by over 20% as a result of the disruption caused by the global health crisis. Many previously booked businesses were canceled or put on pause, and buyers were forced to pull pack on spending.

“Despite all the turbulence around the world, we hit pretty much all the metrics,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters.

By positioning the company with more than 300 partnerships with device makers and expanding the podcast sector, continues to cater and adapt to audiences who are trapped indoors. The reports have shown a clear decrease in mobile and in-car usage but have noticed a surge in playtime on video game consoles. The metrics are proving Spotify's resilience during the pandemic, solidifying its commercial lead in streaming over Apple Music and Amazon Music. 

Spotify has also created a new initiative to donate up to $10 million to causes benefiting artists impacted by COVID-19. To learn more about the music relief project, click here.

source https://edm.com/industry/spotify-q1-earnings-2020