Source: Spotify / Spotify
One of the world’s most popular streaming platforms has some work to do. Spotify is recording rapid growth but continues to lose money.
As spotted on Engadget, the music application continues to dominate the category with increased subscriber growth. According to a recent earnings report, the Stockholm, Sweden based company is apparently struggling. In Q2 of 2023 Spotify saw their monthly active users surge 27% to 551 million. Net additions of 36 million were 21 million ahead of projections and represent an all-time high for the company. Subscribers also grew 17% year over year to 220 million. They also netted 10 million subscribers, which marks their highest Q2 in company history.
But with these impressive metrics tied to usage and subscribers, Spotify took a hit with revenue. For this period they earned $3.5 billion but reported an operation loss of $123.7 million. Spotify chalks this up to some losses incurred due to podcasts, excessive office space, and severance paid to employees who were let go back in January. At the time of the layoffs, CEO Daniel Ek said they were “fundamentally changing how we operate at the top.”
Last week, Spotify announced they will increase the price of their premium plans from $9.99 to $10.99 a month, their first price hike since the company launched in 2010.
