Spotify Now Has 140 Million Users, Worth More Than the Entire US Music Industry and Still Isn’t Profitable. In Fact, the Bleeding is Worse.

June 15, 2017June 16, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments Spotify

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has confirmed that the company now has 140 million active users, up from 40 million from last year and 100 million since May 2014. Of that number, more than 50 million (estimates are about 55 million) are paid subscribers.

Revenue is up, too. Ad revenue popped by 50.3%. Music Business Worldwide says that puts things at around €294m or almost $370m CAD.

Those who know how to add up the numbers say that this gives Spotify a value of $8.3 billion USD, which means the company is worth more than the entire US music industry.

Despite this growth, it Spotify isn’t turning a profit yet. In fact, losses have ballooned to $597 million USD, which is more than the total value of the terrestrial radio industry in some countries.

But Ek continues to double down and double down again in the hopes that the company will get there. Given that Spotify (and streaming in general) is now more important to record labels than physical sales, the whole enterprise is waaaaaaaay to big to fail.

(Via MBW)

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 30+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Chasing a Dream – Kevin Porter in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 036 October 11, 2021
Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break. But what happens when that big […]
Andrew Dick
Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 July 2, 2021
You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are […]
Mark Silver
The Business of Radio – Elliott Hurst in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 034 June 21, 2021
The commercialization of streaming audio is not a new phenomenon. Going back 100 years, it was simply known by another name, broadcasting. With the launch, rise and now transition to digital and apps, the business models of audio-preneurs have generally been the same, mostly because of the challenge of measurement, a problem audio’s cousin television […]
Mark Silver