Once the promo expires, the standard $9.99 per month rate will kick in unless you cancel. Spotify finished the second quarter with 188 million paying (Premium) subscribers, up from 182 million in the previous quarter and 14 percent more compared to the same period a year earlier. Total monthly active users, which includes free tier listeners, reached 433 million – a 19 percent YoY increase. Even with all those listeners, Spotify posted a loss in its most recent quarter. With a free listening promotion like this, the Swedish streaming giant is no doubt hoping to convert a portion of free trial members into paying customers once the promo expires later this year.
Spotify has been taking other measures to improve its financials lately as well. In June, an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg claimed the company would be reducing new hiring by 25 percent due to recession concerns. Last month, Spotify quietly discontinued its Car Thing dashboard accessory just five months after making it available to the general public. Just last week, the company launched a new website to test selling concert tickets. It remains to be seen if the venture will sink or swim, as most ticketing agents have a pretty crummy reputation due to shady practices like buying large quantities of in-demand tickets and reselling them for a premium. One thing Spotify could do to potentially generate more revenue is release HiFi, its high-quality music streaming service. In February 2021, we were told the service would be coming later in the year but it never materialized. At this point, we’re wondering if it’s ever going to launch at all. Image credit: Eyestetix Studio, Omid Armin
