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Spotify hits 75 million paid subscribers as it releases first earnings

Spotify hits 75 million paid subscribers as it releases first earnings

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Spotify just released its first earnings report as a public company, and it contains an updated look at how many people are using the music service. In all, Spotify has 170 million monthly active users and 75 million paid subscribers. That latter total is up from the 71 million marker where Spotify ended Q4. By contrast, Apple Music recently crossed 40 million subscribers. There are now 99 million people listening to Spotify through its ad-supporter free tier. Spotify’s revenue (€1.14 billion) was in line with expectations.

Premium subscribers will jump up to somewhere between 79 and 83 million users by the end of the next quarter, according to Spotify’s earnings outlook. And the company’s prediction for how it’ll fare through the rest of 2018 remains unchanged from guidance it provided in March ahead of its IPO; it’s expecting to wind up with between 92 and 96 million subscribers.

Last month, Spotify unveiled a revamped experience for free users that will give them on-demand access to 15 curated playlists. The refreshed app will also feature immediate personalization for music tastes after a customer signs up for the service and a new mode designed to optimize data usage for people on capped mobile data plans. But some key features and functionality remain exclusive to paying subscribers.

Spotify’s letter to investors also mentions the new app it made for Cadillac vehicles and its expanded Hulu partnership. Right now, that $12.99 combo subscription is only available to existing subscribers, but Spotify reiterated that it will be available to new customers this summer.