Spotify passes 500 million monthly active users for the first time

Spotify reached a new milestone, crossing more than 500 million monthly active listeners. Spotify reported on Wednesday that its audio streaming service is being used by over 515 million people every month, which is more than half a billion users.

The growth is an increase of 22 percent compared to last year or 5 percent versus last quarter. Spotify said the user growth exceeded its guidance by 15 million, with CEO Daniel Ek commenting that the results represented the service’s second-largest quarter of user growth in its history. Paid subscribers, meanwhile, now sit at 210 million, a 15 percent increase year-over-year.

The news comes just a month after a report back in March that the audio streaming giant crossed 500 million monthly active listeners following a major app redesign with vertical feeds to help drive users to discover new content.

In a Twitter post, Ek said last quarter was the company’s “strongest Q1  since going public in 2018 and the second largest quarter of MAU growth” in the company’s history.

.@Spotify's strongest Q1 since going public in 2018 and the second largest quarter of MAU growth in our history. Thank you to our teams worldwide for all you accomplished. More here: https://t.co/rkCQ3HWu43 pic.twitter.com/NC8FWGG4sR

— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) April 25, 2023

During the quarter, Spotify focused on streamlining and cost-cutting, and the audio-streaming company achieved a significant milestone. In late January, the company announced a reduction of nearly 600 staff, which accounted for 6 percent of its global workforce. Additionally, Spotify recently disclosed the shutdown of some side projects, such as its Clubhouse-style Spotify Live audio app and Wordle-style music game, Heardle. CEO Daniel Ek emphasized during the company’s latest earnings call that “speed and efficiency” are the top priorities for Spotify in 2023.

In recent years, the Swedish company has invested heavily in building up its podcast and audiobooks business as part of its effort to attract users and advertisers. The company also announced what it calls a “new re-imagined user interface” at its Stream On event.

Meanwhile, early this year, Spotify announced it was laying off 6% of its employees, as the chief content and advertising business officer, Dawn Ostroff, departed from the company.

Spotify, which had about 9,800 full-time employees as of September 2022, said it expects to incur about 35 million euros (about $38.06 million) to 45 million euros in severance-related charges. Back in October, Spotify had said it would slow down hiring for the rest of 2022 and into 2023.

Spotify is one of the world’s most popular music streaming services, with over 356 million monthly active users, including 158 million premium subscribers. The music-streaming behemoth has seen explosive growth in revenue and customer base in recent years.

Spotify started in October 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden as a commercial music streaming service that provides restricted digital content from a range of record labels and artists. The company also provides a freemium service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations.