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SPOTIFY

Spotify expands with US headquarters move

Spotify is set to expand and move its US headquarters to New York's rebuilt World Trade Center complex amid the rapid growth of streaming, the Swedish giant has announced.

Spotify expands with US headquarters move
Spotify's Sweden headquarters in Stockholm. Photo: Lars Pehrson/SvD/TT

The company, which is the world's largest streaming service, will create 1,000 jobs and retain 832 existing ones as it moves early next year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Spotify, whose US operation is already in Manhattan, will shift to the Fumihiko Maki-designed 4 World Trade Center which will become the first fully leased tower at the site rebuilt after the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks.

Spotify, whose general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said that New York gave the company “access to the most diverse talent market in the world”, will benefit from some $11 million in state support to encourage the move.

Streaming – which allows unlimited, on-demand music – has been rapidly growing around the world. In the United States, subscriptions to Spotify and its rivals more than doubled last year alone.

To celebrate the announcement, Cuomo became the latest politician to release his own playlist on Spotify.

While less known for his pop culture bona fides than playlist creators such as former president Barack Obama, Cuomo picked multiple songs by Billy Joel, a New York native known to be the governor's friend.

Cuomo also picked a range of songs with New York themes including 'Empire State of Mind' by Jay Z and Alicia Keys, U2's 'Angel of Harlem', Bob Dylan's early song 'Talkin' New York' and the original version of 'Downtown Train' by Tom Waits.

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.

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.

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