Spotify grows to 108M paid subscribers, 232M in total
Further raising the bar for Apple Music, Spotify on Wednesday announced that its paid Premium subscribers climbed 30% year-over-year in the June quarter to 108 million, while total listenership -- including its free ad-based tier -- rose 29% to 232 million.
Premium subscribers were 500,000 below analyst consensus, but overall numbers beat a consensus of 227.7 million, Reuters said. Revenue, accordingly, grew from 1.27 billion euros in Q2 2018 to 1.67 billion euros, or about $1.86 billion. The analyst average forecast had been just under $1.83 billion.
The company once again posted a net loss, but down from 394 million euros in 2018 to 76 million euros, $84.71 million. It has focused heavily on growth in 2019, for instance launching in India, South Africa, and the Middle East within just the past few months. It has also invested heavily in podcasts, for instance acquiring Anchor, Parcast, and Gimlet Media, and paying for exclusive shows.
Apple Music cracked 60 million paid subscribers in June. The service lacks a free tier beyond trials. Almost 90% of Spotify's Q2 revenue comes from Premium customers.
Apple's June-quarter services revenue grew 13% year-over-year to $11.5 billion. That includes not just Apple Music but the likes of iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV Channels, and App Store advertising.
Premium subscribers were 500,000 below analyst consensus, but overall numbers beat a consensus of 227.7 million, Reuters said. Revenue, accordingly, grew from 1.27 billion euros in Q2 2018 to 1.67 billion euros, or about $1.86 billion. The analyst average forecast had been just under $1.83 billion.
The company once again posted a net loss, but down from 394 million euros in 2018 to 76 million euros, $84.71 million. It has focused heavily on growth in 2019, for instance launching in India, South Africa, and the Middle East within just the past few months. It has also invested heavily in podcasts, for instance acquiring Anchor, Parcast, and Gimlet Media, and paying for exclusive shows.
Apple Music cracked 60 million paid subscribers in June. The service lacks a free tier beyond trials. Almost 90% of Spotify's Q2 revenue comes from Premium customers.
Apple's June-quarter services revenue grew 13% year-over-year to $11.5 billion. That includes not just Apple Music but the likes of iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV Channels, and App Store advertising.
Comments
There is not one thing of value that came along that could not have been done better inside Apple.
They should have partnered with Spotify.
Well Apple Music is on Spotty's A$$. 60 Million in June is more than half of Spotify's subscribers. I remember when Apple Music was less than half and then half of Spotify's subscriber.
In the long game I see Apple Music catching up though Iovine leaving was definitely bad for growth.
Even if Beats was only hardware, it still was a win for Apple and the envy of other tech companies. Beats is as cool as it gets, hardware is getting better and I believe sales are rising adding to that Wearables, Home and Accesories record revenue. I do wish they'd bring the Beats pill; back which was the people's favorite Bluetooth speaker.
I understand that some people have tried out both services and genuinely prefer Spotify to Apple Music. However, I think for the majority (I'm not talking about Apple haters), it has more to do with inertia.
If someone had started off with Spotify, they'd not really move to another service.
For me, Apple Music came first so I'm really not going to take a look at Spotify, even though it is available now.
People say that Spotify's playlists and suggestions are much better than Apple Music's. That may be Spotify's advantage, but for me, iTunes Match + Apple Music is simply indispensable.