Spotify is a music streaming service that allows users to listen to any song from a library of 35 million songs. The company was founded in 2006 and went public on the NYSE in 2018. Spotify has over 140 million active monthly users as well as 71 million paying subscribers, and its valuation hit $ 8.4 billion after it went public (Spotify).
But how did it become so popular? And what can we expect in the future? I’ll tell you about it all!
- Spotify was first created by three Swedes in 2006: Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon and Niklas Zennström
- In 2008, they launched their app which allowed people to download albums or playlists for a monthly fee in Europe. In the same year, they signed a license agreement with the record company EMI, and their number of users grew from 5 to 15 million in just one year!
- In 2010, Spotify reached the US market thanks to a partnership with Facebook. Over 1 billion playlists were created by Spotify users that year
- 2012 was a year of events for Spotify – by February, the company had over 40 million active users and 12.5 million paying subscribers, and its total valuation was $ 1 billion! By December, Spotify had 75 million active users and 10 million paying subscribers. It wasn’t until October 2013 that Spotify reached 100 million active users. In the same year, he also signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Music Group
- On June 22, 2016, Spotify announced that it had acquired the podcasting company Gimlet Media
- With the new CEO Daniel Ek at the helm, Spotify’s growth has only increased. As of September 2018, it was valued at $ 28 billion and listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, the number of paid subscribers reached 71 million, up from just 30 million 3 years ago!
Spotify isn’t all sunshine and rainbow, though – the company lost over $ 1.5 billion in 2017 due to license fees and the royalties it pays to record labels, as well as upfront payments it gives to artists. In short, Spotify is far from profitable! - The company tries a few innovative things to achieve profitability. One of them is the new car app that will allow users to access Spotify while they are on the go
- Despite the negative press, Spotify continues to innovate and develop. It is currently available in 61 countries with over 140 million monthly active users. What will the next 10 years bring? We can’t wait to find out!
- Spotify has accumulated a huge number of users over the years, which makes it difficult for other competitors to catch up with them.