Spotify hits 777m users as paid subscribers surge to 300m

Streaming giant Spotify said Tuesday that it had 777 million monthly active users at the end of June, 16 million more than in the previous quarter but a million fewer than forecast.

The Swedish company also warned that it expected its growth to slow in the third quarter, saying it anticipated around 11 million new net subscribers.

That cooled investor sentiment, with Spotify shares down 2.6 percent in opening trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Spotify registered 300 million paying subscribers in the quarter, as opposed to people who listen free but with ads — seven million more than in the previous quarter and one million more than expected.

The group’s quarterly operating profit jumped by 61 percent from a year earlier, to 655 million euros ($754 million). Revenue rose by 14 percent to 4.8 billion euros, in line with the group’s expectations.

The earnings reflect “a business that is healthy and compounding, and opportunities only we are positioned to pursue,” Alex Norstrom, the group’s co-chief executive, said in a statement.

“Spotify lives across your whole day — the commute, the workout, studying, gaming, the dinner table, and sleep. At our scale, that is rare… Our position gives us an opportunity space as wide as our users want it to be,” he said.

The company frequently refreshes its offerings to attract new users, and recently launched “Personal Podcasts”, short AI-generated podcasts tailored to individual users.

Spotify will also allow artists’ most dedicated fans, who are paying subscribers, to buy concert tickets before official ticket sales begin.