MUMBAI: Spotify CEO and founder, Daniel Ek, says: “Spotify’s flywheel is accelerating faster with every new user and creator that comes on our platform. We’re building the world’s largest audio network and it’s clear that our strategy is working.”
Additional highlights from the quarter include:
- Monthly Active Users (MAUs)
- Total MAUs grew 29% Y/Y to 320 million, above the top of the guidance range
- The MAU outperformance was buoyed by India, which benefited from successful marketing campaigns, as well as stronger than expected results from the July launches in Russia, CIS, and the Balkans
- Premium Subscribers
- 144 million Premium Subscribers globally, up 27% Y/Y, reaching the top end of the guidance range
- Additionally, Spotify saw strong performance from the global rollout of its Duo product, with the Duo subscriber growth exceeding expectations
- Revenue
- Total revenue was €1,975 million in Q3 2020, representing a growth of 19% Y/Y
- Premium revenue was € 1,790 million of the total and grew 15% Y/Y
- Ad-Supported revenue of €185 million outperformed the forecast, exhibiting a return to growth following the impact of the global pandemic in Q2
- Content
- 22% of Spotify’s MAUs now engage with podcast content, up from 21% of MAUs in Q2 2020
- There are now over 1.9 million podcast titles available on the platform
- Q3 was a standout quarter for Spotify’s podcasting efforts, beginning with the July launch of The Michelle Obama Podcast, an Original & Exclusive (“O&E”) podcast that became the #1 show globally on the platform in July and August, making it the top summer podcast. In September, The Joe Rogan Experience arrived on platform with video capability and became the #1 show in all of Spotify’s English-speaking markets while outperforming audience expectations
- Despite the challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Spotify saw a 13% increase in new music releases compared with Q2 on the platform. This was led by Taylor Swift’s folklore album, which set a Spotify record for the most first day album streams by a female artist while making Taylor Swift the most streamed artist on Spotify on any day this year. BTS also released their first all-English-language single Dynamite in August and had the biggest first day globally on Spotify for a single in 2020
- Two Sided Marketplace
- The number of artists and their teams utilizing Spotify for Artists tools on a monthly basis has grown to more than 750,000
- On July 31, Spotify merged Spotify Analytics — its data tool for labels and distributors — into Spotify for Artists, to establish one unified fan development platform for the music industry. Artists, managers, labels, and distributors can now manage artist profiles, view and analyze listening data, pitch to playlists, and promote their music all together in one service
- Spotify’s sponsored recommendations continue to gain traction, helping music marketers target listeners based on their streaming behavior to shift users into an active listening session of their content. During Q3, Spotify saw a 76% increase in unique customers relative to Q2, and retained 74% of customers from Q2, which is a good sign of customer satisfaction
For detailed information on the quarterly results, you can refer to the press release here; and for a quick look, see this infographic.
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