Spotify Now Has 406 Million Users

As part of its quarterly earnings report, Spotify said that it now has over 406 million monthly average users (MAUs), up 18 percent year-over-year (YOY).

The firm reported an operating loss of $69 million on revenues of $2.7 billion for the quarter ending December 31, 2021.

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“We ended 2021 with strong Q4 results, led by outperformance in MAUs, continued momentum in our subscription business, and meaningful advertising results,” a Spotify letter to shareholders explains. “Looking back on not just this quarter, but the past few years, we are increasingly excited about the investments we have made and see meaningful progress within a number of our initiatives. As we move into 2022 and beyond, the opportunities in front of us are large and we see a tremendous amount of greenfield on the horizon.”

Spotify grew its premium subscriber base 16 percent YOY to 180 million in the fourth quarter, with advertising-supported subscribers up 40 percent to 236 million. Premium subscribers were, of course, far more lucrative and they contributed $2.3 billion in revenues compared to $394 million for ad-supported.

The firm also noted that it experienced double-digit YOY growth in all regions globally, led by strong results in India, Indonesia, and Latin America.

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 23 comments

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    02 February, 2022 - 5:58 pm

    <p>They must have counted before Neil Young left.</p>

    • lecter

      02 February, 2022 - 6:32 pm

      <p>Sadly, unless a tidal wave of exits forms, the vast majority of those people they counted surely had no idea who Neil Young or Joni Mitchell were up until last week (at best). Outside the US, most of them would also surely have no idea who Joe Rogan is… </p><p><br></p><p>I’m kinda surprised competitors are not using this chance to offer some incentives to other artists to flee Spotify, because with concerts still ramping up after 2 years of COVID, I doubt most of the currently popular ones would want to give up such a revenue stream by themselves. </p>

      • Travelrobert

        Premium Member
        03 February, 2022 - 12:33 am

        <p>I’d say a lot of people younger than 60 have heard of Joe Rogan here in Sweden. I believe the general consesus is that he’s a really good interviewer.</p><p><br></p><p>Far less would know Joni Mitchell – far less. </p>

        • sergeluca

          03 February, 2022 - 1:10 am

          <p>Here in Belgium, I did not know who Joe Rogan is. ?</p>

          • wright_is

            Premium Member
            03 February, 2022 - 7:17 am

            <p>I thought they meant Seth Rogan the first time he was mentioned…</p>

        • reefer

          03 February, 2022 - 8:22 am

          <p>Stop lying. Most people under 60 here in Sweden doesnt know who Joe Rogan is, nor should they.</p>

      • richfrantz

        Premium Member
        03 February, 2022 - 3:38 pm

        <p>Joe Rogan is the guy from the sitcom NewsRadio. </p>

        • richfrantz

          Premium Member
          03 February, 2022 - 3:47 pm

          <p>I forgot Fear Factor.</p>

    • crunchyfrog

      03 February, 2022 - 7:16 am

      <p>They say there’s no such thing as bad press. All of this attention is more likely than not to increase Spotify’s base and add to Joe Rogan’s listener base as well.</p>

  • GT Tecolotecreek

    02 February, 2022 - 6:23 pm

    <p>Have these guys ever made a profit or broke even?</p>

  • ringofvoid

    02 February, 2022 - 7:57 pm

    <p>I still love Spotify. The selection of songs is great &amp; the song and artist recommendations are on point.</p><p><br></p><p>I don’t see the point in censoring Joe Rogan’s 3 hour+ podcasts, but I’m not a big fan of censorship in general. I can’t imagine that a lot of people are genuinely having their lives directed by the guests he interviews but, if there are, they’re people with too much time on their hands and not a great loss. I’ll save my time for Brad &amp; Paul and maybe a Windows Weekly here and there </p>

    • Stabitha.Christie

      03 February, 2022 - 6:55 am

      <p>Criticism isn’t censorship. Rogan hasn’t been censored or anything close to it. </p>

    • retcable

      Premium Member
      03 February, 2022 - 7:00 am

      <p>Technically, the word censorship only applies to actions by the government. It does not apply to private companies, who have the perfect right to police, monitor, and ban if they decide to do so, anything that appears on their privately-owned application. </p><p><br></p><p>The government must allow someone to say the government is evil and must be brought down, because that is free speech as long as that person takes no action based on what they said. If that person said the same thing on a podcast hosted by Spotify, Spotify would be completely proper should they decide to take down that podcast and ban it from ever appearing on their network again. That is not censorship.</p>

      • SvenJ

        03 February, 2022 - 10:01 am

        <p>So what is the word for when sites block or obscure replies in forums? Newspapers opting not to print letters to the editor because they don’t meet with the philosophy of that paper? Radio and TV stations bleeping out words that aren’t on an official FCC list, but offensive to the owners. Isn’t that censorship? Or what would you call it? Editorial discretion? Webster says censor is<strong style="color: rgb(48, 51, 54);">&nbsp;'</strong><span style="color: rgb(48, 51, 54);">to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable’. The issue becomes who is doing it, and why. </span></p>

        • Stabitha.Christie

          03 February, 2022 - 10:09 am

          <p>You are confusing being able to say something with being provided a platform from which to say it. Declining to provide someone a platform doesn’t stop them from holding our espousing their beliefs and opinions. </p>

      • richfrantz

        Premium Member
        03 February, 2022 - 3:46 pm

        <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The government must allow someone to say the government is evil and must be brought down"</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A recent anomaly as we drift back to historical norms. </span></p>

    • jchampeau

      Premium Member
      03 February, 2022 - 7:49 am

      <p>As was mentioned, we aren’t talking about censorship because Spotify isn’t the government. The central question is whether or not Spotify, given its scope and reach and Joe Rogan’s popularity, should <em>equally</em> enforce the standard they set under which they disallow the spread of misinformation. I read that they have removed episodes from others’ podcasts for doing what Mr. Rogan did, but they aren’t doing it to Mr. Rogan. Presumably so because he generates a lot of revenue for Spotify.</p>

  • markbyrn

    Premium Member
    03 February, 2022 - 10:51 am

    <p>Normally you’d see people in the comments fêting Spotify for beating Apple Music.&nbsp; But with the political angst over Rogan, the lauding of Spotify is over and tech blogs like Wired are telling people how to switch to Apple Music while keeping their Spotify playlists. Be interesting to see if there are any substantive defections. </p>

  • ebraiter

    03 February, 2022 - 3:21 pm

    <p>We’ll see what the next quarter scribers will be. I’ve read comments [elsewhere] about a bunch of people dropping Spotify. We’ll see if true or a bunch of hypocrites. </p>

  • hopmedic

    03 February, 2022 - 4:05 pm

    <p>I just hope the intolerant people who preach tolerance continue to cancel themselves.</p>

  • david.thunderbird

    03 February, 2022 - 4:11 pm

    <p>I wasn’t one of that 18% I’m opening Pandora’s box with Alexa.</p>

  • JH_Radio

    Premium Member
    03 February, 2022 - 4:17 pm

    <p>No lossless = no try. </p><p><br></p>

  • jason_e

    05 February, 2022 - 9:39 am

    <p>I find it odd how upset people are over Rogan (and they probably do not listen to him) but these very same people have no issues with the filth and harmful lyrics some of the gangster rap artist put out. I would rather hear some "misinformation" (nobody really knows do they) about a virus than someone bragging about raping a woman or killing a cop. I suggest these people just do not listen to Rogan just as I do not listen to the rap that I do not like and stop trying to force your belief on everyone else.</p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC