Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services in the world, and its user base continues to grow despite an onslaught competition from the likes of Apple Music. Spotify today announced that it has reached a total of 100 million users, up from 75 million a few months ago. The music streaming service now also has the biggest paid subscriber base in the entire industry.
The service has announced that it has more than 30 million users who are paying for its premium service. The vast majority of users – 70 million to be precise – still tune into free but that’s beside the point.
The road ahead is not clear for Spotify as Apple Music remains a looming threat. Apple’s music streaming service was launched last year and it already has more than 13 million paid subscribers. Even Google has become a competitor with Google Play Music and YouTube.
Even Amazon is expected to throw its hat in the ring. Rumor has it that the online retail giant is working on a standalone music streaming service that could be launched later this year. It would arrive in an already crowded market with many services jostling for position.
Despite going live back in 2006 and growing continuously for a decade, Spotify is yet to turn a profit. It pays almost 80 percent of its revenues to record labels and artists who make their music available on Spotify.