Spotify hits a record 751M monthly users thanks to Wrapped, new free features

Swedish euphony streaming elephantine Spotify saw its idiosyncratic numbers highest past quarter, driven by its year-end “Wrapped” campaign, which rounds up stats and listening highlights for users, and caller features connected its escaped tier.

The institution said it saw a grounds 38 cardinal caller users successful the 4th quarter, taking its full to 751 cardinal monthly progressive users, up 11% from a twelvemonth earlier. Paying subscribers accrued by 10% to 290 cardinal successful the quarter.

Spotify said the “Wrapped” run resulted successful much than 300 cardinal engaged users and 630 cardinal shares connected societal media successful 56 languages.

Revenue came successful astatine €4.53 cardinal ($5.39 billion), astir 7% much than a twelvemonth earlier, acknowledgment to an 8% summation successful subscription revenue. However, the company’s ad-supported concern saw gross dip by 4% to €518 cardinal ($616.6 million). Gross margin, an important metric investors ticker for indications of improvements to Spotify’s profitability, improved by 83 ground points to a grounds precocious of 33.1% arsenic the institution sold much ads for podcasts and music.

The coagulated show comes arsenic Spotify’s caller co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström take over the reins from co-founder Daniel Ek, and they volition present oversee a concern that has acold outgrown what it initially acceptable retired to do.

After launching arsenic a euphony streaming pure-play, Spotify has expanded its remit to see podcasts, audiobooks, and adjacent physical bookstores. It’s launched music videos wrong the app arsenic good arsenic video podcasts, and has doubled down connected its retention strategy by adding societal features similar radical chats and letting users share what they’re listening to. You tin adjacent usage Spotify to publication tickets to concerts, oregon research the communicative down songs.

The institution has besides added AI features similar an AI DJ, AI-generated playlists, and present lets users exclude tracks from being recommended to assistance them amended tailor what they perceive to.

Profitability has been a large absorption for Spotify successful caller years, and the institution has tried to execute that by increasing subscription prices successful the U.S. and Europe. It’s besides added caller features to its free, ad-supported tier to pull much radical distant from rivals similar YouTube Music and Amazon Music, letting users hunt for and take songs they privation to perceive to.

The institution expects to scope 759 cardinal users, and 293 cardinal paying subscribers successful the existent quarter.