KOLKATA: Audio streaming platform Spotify added 10 million paid subscribers in Q4 reaching 155 million, 24 per cent up year-on-year basis. It added a record 30 million subscribers for the year, compared to 28 million in 2019.
Total monthly active users (MAUs) grew 27 per cent year-on-year to 345 million in the quarter. The streamer continued to see healthy double digit year-on-year growth across all regions. For the full year, net additions accelerated to a record 74 million compared to 2019 net additions of 64 million. In the quarter, it added 25 million MAUs and benefited from faster growth in India, the US, and western Europe. The company stated India served as a notable source of upside by successful marketing campaigns.
On the other hand, premium subscription growth was led by Europe and North America. Europe continues to benefit from the service’s July launch in Russia and 12 surrounding markets, the company stated. Relative to its forecast, Latin America and Europe performed particularly well from a regional perspective, while family plan and duo additions were strong from a product perspective.
Total revenue of €2,168 million grew 17 per cent year-on-year in Q4. Premium revenue grew 15 per cent year-on-year to €1,887 million, while ad-supported revenue was particularly strong, growing 29 per cent year-on-year.
Spotify saw strong ad revenue growth across all regions and channels as advertiser demand continued to rebound from Q2 2020 lows, the company stated. The strength in ad-supported revenue was led by the podcast, direct, and ad studio channels, with podcast and ad studio both growing over 100 per cent on yearly basis. Podcast performance benefited from strong underlying demand from advertisers with a 50 per cent increase in the number of companies spending in this channel over Q3.
“Despite the global uncertainty of 2020, it was a remarkable year for Spotify. Following a strong Q2 and Q3, Q4 met or exceeded our guidance by nearly every metric,” Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek said in a statement.
For Q1 2021, the company is projecting total users of 354 million-364 million and paid subscribers of 155 million-158 million.
