Music streaming service Spotify announced reaching a major milestone. The company now has over 3 million active paying users. Last
time, it had announced the number of its paying subscribers in November, when the tab stood at 2.5 million premium subscribers. Paid membership allows Spotify users to enjoy ad-free unlimited music. It also lets them play music on their smartphones.
Talking with Financial Times, Spotify's chief content officer and US managing director, Ken Parks said, "We have an enormous internal effort to drive conversion and engagement with the service. We are very focused on growing in our existing 1e markets as well as expanding in other markets." In UK, Spotify is now facing stiff competition from emerging streaming services such Pure Music.
Latest figures reveal that more than 20 percent of its user base pays for using Spotify services. It also claimed that more than half of its paying members belong to below-30 years of age demography. This is one segment which is generally very difficult to monetize. Spotify also clarified that while calculating its active users, it does not include users on a free trial of its premium services.
Spotify is now looking to augment its services. It recently introduced new apps for this purpose. These apps may be used for creating playlists for personalizing features.