LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Revenues at streaming music service Spotify’s UK division were up sharply, driven by sustained subscriber growth in 2016.
According to Spotify’s latest financial statement, which covers the fiscal year ending in 2016, gross revenue rose from £237 million, up from £187 million in 2015, an increase of more than 40%.
Advertising sales also saw strong growth, increasing to £17.5 million, up from £10.8 million in 2015 and driven by an increase in monthly active users which the company reported at 7.1 million, with 2.8 million paying subscribers. That’s a marked improvement over the previous year when Spotify UK reported just 1.7 million subscribers.
The company attributed much of its growth to the debut of a new family plan pricing structure, as well as new audio and video advertising systems, which Spotify sees as its main source of revenue going forward.
“Going forward from November 2016, the Company’s (Spotify) main form of generating revenue will be from advertising. This advertising consists mainly of display ads, as well as audio and video advertising,” the company said in its financial filing.
Concordant with the company’s subscriber growth, payments to rightsholders increased to £167 million, up from £149 million in 2015.
Notably, Spotify UK posted a net profit for the year, recording total year-end profit after taxation of £1.9 million, up from £1.2 million in the previous year.
