Spotify to axe 1,500 workers to save costs

Swedish music-streaming giant Spotify has announced it is cutting 17% of its workforce, about 1,500 jobs, as the company seeks to clamp down on costs.

Chief executive Daniel Ek said he had made the “difficult” decision with economic growth slowing “dramatically”.

Spotify employs about 9,000 people, and Mr Ek said “substantial action to rightsize our costs” was needed for the company to meet its objectives.

He added he understood the cuts would be “incredibly painful for our team”.

“I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions”, Mr Ek said. “To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.”

Spotify cut staff earlier this year but the plans announced on Monday dwarf those previous plans.

In its latest results, Spotify had reported a profit of €65m (£55.7m) for the three months to September – its first quarterly profit for more than a year – helped by price rises and higher subscriber numbers.

Mr Ek said that given the recent “positive” results, the job cuts being announced “will feel surprisingly large” for many people.

He said Spotify had considered making smaller reductions during 2024 and 2025, but decided that more drastic action was needed to improve the company’s finances.

Since it launched, Spotify has spent a lot of money on growing the business, and in securing exclusive content such as podcasts created by the likes of Michelle and Barack Obama as well as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The deal with Harry and Meghan cost a reported $25m (£19.7m) and saw just 12 episodes delivered over two and a half years before the deal ended in June.

Commenting on podcast content, Mr Ek told the BBC in September: “The truth of the matter is some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t.”