Spotify Tops Q1 Subscriber Targets to Hit 210 Million Paying Users, Revenue Misses

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify packed on more users than it expected in Q1 but revenue fell short of its guidance, which the company blamed on headwinds in its advertising business.

For the first quarter of 2023, the company, total monthly active users (free and paid) grew by 22% year-over-year to 515 million “driven by strength in both developed and developing markets, and nearly all age groups,” the company said.

Spotify Premium subscribers grew to 210 million, a net gain of 5 million in the quarter, which beat its expectations with “outperformance across all regions, led by Europe and Latin America.” Total revenue grew 14% year-over-year to €3.0 billion, below Spotify’s expectation of €3.1 billion “due to macro-related variability in our advertising business.” The company reported a Q1 operating loss of €156 million, which was better than projected, helped by lower marketing spend.

It was Spotify’s “strongest Q1 since going public in 2018” and the second-largest quarter of MAU growth in its history, CEO Daniel Ek tweeted.