Spotify Closes In On 200M Monthly User Milestone, Despite Apple, Amazon Threats

Music streaming service Spotify Technology SA SPOT is approaching a key milestone. 

The Stockholm, Sweden-based company was founded in 2006, and the music streaming service was first publicly released in Oct. 2008. In the U.S., the service was launched in July 2011.

What Happened

Spotify said it had 87 million subscribers and 191 million monthly active users, or MAUs, as of Sept. 30, 2018. This represents year-over-year growth of 28 and 40 percent, respectively.

It offers 40 million-plus songs and 3 billion-plus playlists in more than 65 markets globally. 

MAUs increased from 91 million in 2015 to 123 million in 2016 to 159 million in 2017, according to Spotify's SEC filing.

Source: Statista

Why It's Important

Spotify's strong showing comes at a time when Apple Inc. AAPL is making inroads in North America with Apple Music. When Apple last revealed its subscriber numbers in mid-May, it said it had more than 50 million paid subscribers, including trials. Globally, Spotify is leading the pack. 

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, which boasts of the third position in music streaming behind Spotify and Apple Music, reportedly said in April it has doubled its subscriber numbers over the past six months and has "tens of millions" of paid customers.

Spotify offered its shares to public in April 2018 in an NYSE listing. The stock is off about 3 percent year-to-date. 

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