Spotify’s Premium Subscribers Increase To 188 Million In Q2

Audio streaming platform, Spotify has today announced in its  earnings release that its premium subscribers had risen to 188 million in its second quarter, with its monthly active users (MAU) now seating at 433 million, a year-over-year increase of 14 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

With the figures comparing to the 182 million and 422 million figures it announced last quarter, Spotify in its statement said its growth in MAUs was its largest ever in a second quarter and exceeded its guidance.

The increase in earnings is coming at a time the Swedish company’s foray into podcasts is experiencing setbacks, with eminent personalities on the platform deciding against continued production. One of such is the decision by the Obama’s not to extend the high-profile podcasting deal it struck with Spotify in 2019. Also ‘Reply All’, one of its biggest podcasts had on Saturday, June 23 concluded its final episode and won’t be continuing.

It appears the company is now putting the disappointment behind it with the announcement of the3 Quarter 2 earnings.

Q2 ‘22 $SPOT earnings results are out. A very strong quarter for @Spotify thanks to the teams around the world who continue to innovate and build the world’s #1 audio network. https://t.co/nhnFRlqAkc pic.twitter.com/Q92ey6OrbH

— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) July 27, 2022

In the podcasting arena, all is not gloom for Spotify as shows like The Joe Rogan Experience and more recent hits like Breaking Bread, and the number of podcasts available through its service are still doing well, increasing in numbers.

The company is looking beyond podcasting though as it is eying audiobooks as another major source of growth, with the last year acquisition of audiobook platform, ‘Findaway’.

The Co-founder and CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek while elucidating his belief in audiobooks, described it as “a massive opportunity” for the company.

Spotify, one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 433 million monthly active users, including 188 million paying subscribers, as of June 2022 had this quarter had a loss of €125 million (around $127 million) this quarter, and it may be argued that the loss is coming due to the company prioritizing subscriber growth over quarterly profits. Its average revenue per user now sits at €4.54 (around $4.60), up / down from €4.38 (around $4.44) last quarter.

Spotify in its quarterly announcement fell short of announcing a release date or pricing for Spotify HiFi, a new higher-quality subscription tier it announced February last year. Spotify HiFi is being mooted to offer lossless CD-quality music streams akin to the offerings of Apple Music and Amazon Music, its major competitors. The company has kept mum on the cause of the delay.