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Spotify

Spotify Sees 40% Surge in Paid Subscriptions

By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
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By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 1, 2018, 11:43 AM ET

Spotify is proving more adept at convincing users to pay for its premium service. As part of the streaming company’s third-quarter results, it noted paid members now total 87 million, a 40% year over year increase.

That’s also an increase of 4 million paid users in the past quarter. In the past year, Spotify has added 25 million paid customers.

The company is not expecting growth to slow down anytime soon either. Spotify estimates paid subscriptions will land between 93 million and 96 million by the end of the fourth quarter.

Both numbers are notably higher than Apple Music’s 43.5 million paid subscribers. (Spotify also said users who opt for the free, ad-supported model of the service, now number 109 million, a 20% increase from a year ago.)

“Growth continues to be healthy across our Family and Student plans, and the strong retention characteristics of this base continue to drive churn lower,” the company said in a statement.

Spotify has made a push for paid users of late, joining Hulu and Showtime in a promotion aimed at students, letting them bundle all three services for $4.99 per month.

Europe remains the largest subscriber base for Spotify, making up 40% of the paid subscriber base, but the North American market is quite healthy, with a 31% slice of that pie.

About the Author
By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

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