Spotify has issued its Q1 2023 financial results, which show that the company added five million subscribers in the quarter.
The streaming giant now has 210 million subscribers, a year-on-year increase of 15%. The quarterly gains were ahead of Spotify’s guidance last year. The performance was led by Europe and Latin America.
Overall, including the freemium model, Spotify surged past 500 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the first quarter. It added 26m users - 15m above guidance - to reach 515m, a year-on-year increase of 22%.
The forecast for Q1 is 530 million MAUs and 217m premium subscribers.
In its summary to investors, Spotify described it as a “strong start to 2023”.
Revenue growth was slightly below expectations due to volatility in the advertising business. Q1 revenue of €3.04 billion was actually down by 4% quarter-on-quarter, as a result of ad-supported revenue sliding 27% in the first three months 2023 (premium revenue was flat quarter-on-quarter).
Based on the year-on-year comparison, total revenue was up 14%. Premium revenue was also up 14%, while ad-supported increased by 17%.
The company’s operating loss was down to €156m.
The results follow the implementation of a redesigned Spotify user experience, which was unveiled at the company’s Sound On event.
Subscribers can read our Music Week Interview with Safiya Lambie-Knight, head of music for the UK & Ireland.
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