If Spotify was a country, it would be bigger than the US as subscriber count hits 365 million

• Spotify reported an increase of 20% in premium subscribers in the second quarter.
• It also saw a 22% year-over-year increase in overall subscriber base.
• The monthly user growth saw a decline due to lower user intake in the quarter.

Spotify on Wednesday announced it has reached 365 million subscribers globally as the audio streaming service grew 22% year-over-year during the quarter between April and June. Spotify also added 9 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the same period.

The Sweden-based streaming service saw a 20% increase in premium subscribers, which now stands at 165 million. Spotify saw the most amount of growth in Europe and North America which helped boost its subscriber base. The streaming service posted a revenue of €2.33 billion (Rs 20,460 crores) in the second quarter, which is an increase from €2.15 billion the previous year.

Spotify added 7 million new premium subscribers in Q2, which was well above expectations. It also highlighted that global consumption hours continued to grow in the last quarter with the highest growth in North America. Spotify expects to reach between 170 and 174 million premium subscribers by the end of the next quarter.

The MAU growth for Spotify was, however, slower than expected, Spotify said in its Q2 earnings report. The reason behind this was due to lower user intake during the first half of Q2. Spotify also paused marketing campaigns due to COVID-19. Another reason that may have impacted this slow growth is a user sign-up issue that was tied to a global third party platform. In Q3 between July and September, the company expects to have around 382 million monthly active users.

When it comes to content consumption, overall consumption hours of podcasts reached an all-time high on Spotify in Q2. By the end of the quarter, there were 2.9 million podcasts on the platform. Spotify continues to heavily invest on podcasts with its growing slate of original content and exclusive deals.

Spotify also launched new features and interface changes in Q2. It also re-launched the Locker Room app as Spotify Greenroom, a Clubhouse-like audio social platform. Spotify plans to do a wide release of Greenroom later this year with focus on sports, pop culture, music and entertainment.

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