SPOTIFY NEARS 500M USERS

Spotify is closing in on half a billion monthly active users (MAU). The platform topped 200m paid subscribers in 2022.

The streaming service announced it had 489m MAU, a 20% spike over 2021, and 205m paid subscribers as of 12/31. The premium tier brought in €2.95b in ’22, an 18% increase, of total revenue of €3.17b.

In the fourth quarter, India and Indonesia led MAU growth, while Latin America was key to the rise in subscribers.

Promotional campaigns across all regions generated better-than-expected results.

“Looking back on 2022 in its entirety, we are pleased with our overall results,” reads a statement in Spotify's shareholder deck. “Each year presents certain challenges and opportunities and, over the past 12 months, we largely delivered on our internal goals and we are excited about the momentum we are building heading into 2023.”

Gross margin for Q4 finished at 25.3%, a reflection of stable music profitability and improving podcast profitability.

In a call with analysts, CEO Daniel Ek said the company had predicted in 2021 that ’22 would be “an investment year” and that Spotify had followed through on that plan, even though ’23 began with layoffs. He said there is now “an intense focus on efficiency” as the company is “rethinking how we operate.”

While noting that Spotify increased its prices in 40 markets in 2022, Ek said the company is following a “balanced portfolio approach” to growth—in newer markets, the goal is user numbers; more mature markets are more likely to see subscription-price spikes.

“More artists are mattering more than ever,” Ek said, reporting that music tastes are becoming more personalized around the world as the company sees local repertoire growing (he specifically noted France and Poland). “It’s quite encouraging.”

Spotify is forecasting that it will hit 500m MAU in Q1 and that it will add 2m new subscribers in the quarter.