Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

APPLE

Spotify announcement prompts flurry of online rumours

A promise by Swedish music streaming service Spotify on Monday to unveil a “new direction” has sparked a flurry of rumours and speculation about what sort of innovation the company may have in store.

Published: 22 November 2011 17:23 CET
Spotify announcement prompts flurry of online rumours

On Monday, Spotify sent out a press release announcing a November 30th press conference which will explain “what’s next for Spotify”.

Co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek promised “a special guest or two” would be on hand for the announcement, but the company has been hesitant to divulge any further details.

“At Spotify, we continually strive to innovate and deliver exciting new experiences for our users,” a Spotify spokesperson told tech news website PCMag.com.

“In New York on November 30th, we are holding our first press conference to unveil the latest major development from Spotify—and a new direction for the company.”

The press conference announcement comes on the heels of the release of Google Music, an online music storage service and music store from the search engine giant.

Earlier in the month, Apple released a new feature related to its online music store iTunes which allows users to store their digital music files online, giving them on-the-go access.

News of the mysterious Spotify press conference led to speculation among a number of tech news websites that the company plans to release an app for the Apple iPad.

Others have speculated that the company plans to launch an MP3 music store in the United States, similar to one currently offered to Spotify users in Europe, whereby users can buy digital music files without using Amazon or Apple’s iTunes.

In April, rumours were circulating that Spotify was in talks with film companies about a possible deal for distributing feature films.

So far, nothing has materialized, however, and Ek denied the rumours at the time.

In July, Spotify launched its streaming music service, which offers a catalogue of 15 million songs, to US-based users and in September the company announced a tie up with Facebook allowing users to share their listening activities with friends on the social networking site.

Spotify was founded in 2006 by Swedes Daniel Ek, then in his twenties, and Martin Lorentzon.

The service first launched in 2008 in Sweden and says it has since become the world’s largest streaming service with over 10 million users worldwide.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

BUSINESS

Spotify reports strong growth in users as it announces price rise

Spotify on Tuesday reported a bigger-than-expected rise in active users at the end of the second quarter, a day after the music streaming giant announced price increases for its premium service.

Published: 25 July 2023 14:30 CEST
Spotify reports strong growth in users as it announces price rise

The Swedish company, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, said it’s total active users rose 27 percent to 551 million year-on-year, or 21 million more than it expected. The number of paying subscribers also rose, with a 17 percent jump to 220 million — three million more than expected.

On Monday, the company announced it was raising its prices for premium subscribers “across a number of markets around the world,” following in the footsteps of similar moves by competing music services from Apple and Amazon.

Despite the boost in users, Spotify reported a bigger operating loss of 247 million euros ($273 million) in the second quarter, compared to a loss of 194 million euros for the same period a year earlier.

The company said it was “primarily impacted by charges related to our actions to streamline operations and reduce costs.”

In early June, Spotify announced it would be cutting some 200 positions working with podcasts.

That move came after a January announcement that Spotify was cutting around 600 jobs — equalling about six percent of its workforce — following similar moves by other tech industry giants.

Spotify has invested heavily since its launch to fuel growth with expansions into new markets and, in later years, exclusive content such as
podcasts. It has invested over a billion dollars into podcasts alone.

In 2017, the company had around 3,000 staff members, more than tripling the figure to around 9,800 at the end on 2022.

The company has never posted a full-year net profit and only occasionally quarterly profits despite its success in the online music market.

SHOW COMMENTS