STOCKHOLM (CelebrityAccess) — Spotify revealed that their monthly active users hit a record high in the second fiscal quarter of 2020 with 299 million users streaming music on the platform,. That’s an increase of 29% year over year and a 5% increase from their Q1 when they reported 281 million MAUs.
Spotify added 8 million new Premium users during the quarter and now boasts 138 million paying subscribers. That’s up 6% from the first quarter of 2020 and a %27 percent increase year-over-year for Spotify.
“Our business performed well in Q2 and continues to operate at a high level despite the continuing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Excluding the impact of social charges related to the increase in our share price during Q2, all of our key metrics would have finished at or ahead of our expectations,” Spotify said in their earnings release.
However, despite the strong tailwinds of subscriber growth, Spotify is still struggling to make any money. The streamer posted revenue of $1.8 billion for the quarter, up 13% year-over-year. At the same time, operating income went deeply into the red, with losses of $167 million for the quarter.
Spotify noted that profits were impacted by lower ad revenue which they attributed to the coronavirus, and due to the strong performance of their stock, which led to higher than expected share-based compensation costs for staff.
The streaming service also touted their ongoing investment into podcasting, noting that the total monthly active users who listen to podcasts on the service increased by 3% since Q1 and was up by “triple digit rates” year over year.
Spotify is projecting continued growth through 2020 and expects to have total MAUs of 328 million-348 million and total Premium subscribers of 146 million-153 million by the end of Q4.
