Spotify’s fourth quarter 2022 exceeded all expectations, with the streaming giant hitting the mark 205 million Premium subscribers. A decidedly bombastic figure, clearly growing compared to the company’s objectives. The result is of course also reflected in the resulting record quarterly profit: 3.17 billion eurosan increase of 18% compared to the same period of the previous year (2021).
More generally, including free accounts, Spotify ended the year with a total of 489 million subscribers.
Spotify: 10 million subscribers in the last quarter alone
In the last three months of 2022, Spotify gained around 10 million Premium users. This growth in paid subscriptions, up 14% year over yearfor the company was “helped by promotional hiring and family plans” (via Variety).
More generally, the overall growth of subscribers (Premium and non-Premium) was 20% on an annual basis. The forecasts of the Swedish giant for the fourth quarter were 202 million Premium subscribers. From the point of view of the stock markets Spotify’s share value is up more than 4% in pre-market trading. They also grow Ad Revenue (+14% YoY) for a total of 449 million euros. The podcasting segment is the driving force above all (30%).
Last week, ahead of its Q4 report, Spotify laid off around 600 employees, cutting its workforce by 6%. The company also announced the release of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who has driven Spotify’s podcasting division for the past four years. Instead, senior leaders were promoted Gustav Söderström e Alex Norstromwho now report directly to the CEO Daniel.