When Spotify launched its music streaming service in several European countries on October 7, 2008, few people would have thought that this obscure Stockholm-based startup would eventually grow into the world’s most popular music platform. Back then, music streaming was still in its infancy, accounting for a small fraction of global music revenues, but eventually Spotify’s early bet on streaming paid off.
As the following chart illustrates, it took a while for Spotify to really take off. By the time of its fifth birthday in 2013, the streaming pioneer had roughly 30 million active users and 8 million premium subscribers. Since then, Spotify's active user and premium subscriber numbers have continued to grow steadily though, reaching 640 million and 252 million, respectively, by the end of September 2024.
All that user growth notwithstanding, Spotify has long struggled to become profitable. Last year, the company that went public in 2018 and is currently valued at roughly $100 billion reported a net loss of €532 million, bringing its accumulated losses since 2009 to more than €4 billion. 2024 could be a pivotal year for Spotify, though, as the company reported a record profit of €771 million ($814 million) for the first three quarters and is well on track to achieve its first annual profit this year.
