Spotify is first online music service to hit 100-million paid users
Competition from Apple, Amazon.com and YouTube has done little to slow Spotify’s prodigious global growth
Los Angeles — Spotify has reached 100-million paid subscribers, a first for any online music service, adding more customers in the latest quarter than analysts expected and boosting confidence that the company has lots of room to grow. Spotify Technology took on 4-million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3-million forecast by analysts. But its first-quarter loss was 79c a share, wider than the 41c loss analysts expected. After a brief rise, the stock fell as much as 2% to $135.50 in New York trading. Competition from Apple, Amazon.com and YouTube has done little to slow Spotify’s growth around the world, and the company has relied on its independence from some of the world’s largest companies to its advantage. It has boosted its customer base through promotional deals with Hulu, Samsung and even Alphabet’s Google (YouTube’s parent company). “The music industry market is way bigger than most people realised,” CEO Daniel Ek said on a call with analysts. The company foreca...
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