Spotify gains 138 million paid members and 299 million MAUs worldwide in Q2 2020

Music streaming giant Spotify has outperformed investors’ expectations and has outperformed expectations even during the coronavirus pandemic. Spotify saw significant growth in its total user base, number of subscribers, and listen time (which returned to pre-COVID-19 levels) in Q2 2020, but operating costs increased by 48%; Advertising revenue fell 21%.

Spotify now has 299 million monthly active users (MAUs), an increase of 29% compared to the same period last year. The streaming giant also managed to add 30 million new subscribers year-on-year, increasing its subscriber base to 138 million. This is a 27% increase compared to Q2 2019, when Spotify had approximately 108 million subscribers. We’ve added 8 million paying users in the last three editions alone, which is amazing.

Spotify said in an official statement to investors: “Our business performed well in the second quarter and we continue to operate at a high level despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. “

Although the company’s subscriber base has grown, its financials have taken some hit due to the strong stock performance in Q2 2020 (related to social charges of nearly 126 million euros). Total revenue for the quarter amounted to 1.89 billion euros, an increase of 13% year-on-year. Losses rose to 356 million euros from 76 million euros in the same period last year.

Spotify also highlights recent product changes you may have missed. It notes that thanks to recent deals with major record labels, more than 60 million songs are now available on the platform. The total number of podcast shows also jumped to over 1.5 million in Q2 2020. The company says nearly 50% of podcasts started in 2020 are now listened to by 21% of all users, up from 19% in Q1 2020 . .

Additionally, Spotify recently rolled out real-time lyrics support to users in 26 countries, including India. This week, it’s also rolling out a “Group Sessions” feature that lets users (up to five premium subscribers) share common playlists, queue songs, and jam sessions no matter where they are. In India, you can now also ask Alexa to play songs via Spotify.

The company has not disclosed the number of subscribers in India, but we will update this article as soon as we know more. Spotify expects its user base and total subscribers to grow to 312 million to 317 million and 140 million to 144 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2020.