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Digital Top Stories
Spotify has one million paying subscribers
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 8 March 2011
Spotify overnight confirmed that it now has one million paying subscribers, telling reporters that this meant 15% of the streaming service’s “active users” are now paying to use the service.
The key word there is “active”, as we know Spotify has over ten million registered users overall, meaning less than 10% are paying when everyone signed up to the free version is counted. But, in its press release the digital firm admits that a sizable portion of those registered for its freemium option don’t regularly make use of the music service, hence the 15% stat.
Presumably when selling the service to advertisers Spotify doesn’t dwell too much on the fact that nearly a third of its freemium subscribers are not “active”. The fact it’s willing to admit it here, though, tells us something about the Swedish company’s current priorities – ie that the subscription-based element of its offer is more important to its long term business plan than the ad-funded free option.
And, perhaps more so, that Spotify is keen to convince those record label execs in the US still uncertain about licensing the free option that there’s a good ratio of free users turning into paying users.
Confirming the one million premium user milestone had been passed on their blog last night, Team Spot noted: “It seems like only yesterday we were hatching ideas for a new music service in a tiny office-cum-apartment with a broken coffee machine, and the party we threw having reached one million users almost two years ago today was one to remember.
So it’s with a sense of real pride and excitement that we can announce a new milestone today, having welcomed our millionth paying subscriber to the service”.
It continued: “It’s a testament to our fantastic users who continue to support us and spread the Spotify word, either by telling friends or sharing some of the 200 million playlists that you’ve put together so far. From everyone at Spotify, we’d like to give you all massive thanks. We’ll continue to focus on providing you with the best music service possible, and look forward to adding even more cool new features over the coming months. What’s really exciting is that this is only the beginning”.
