Music streaming giant Spotify ended the first quarter of 2022 with 182 million paid subscribers, up from 180 million as of the end of 2021 but below its original 183 million subscriber forecast—made before the company’s exit from Russia that led to the loss of around 1.5 million subscribers. (THR)
The streamer beat on nearly every metric, with total monthly active users (MAUs) up 19 percent year-over-year to a record 422 million in the quarter ending March 31. Revenue rose 24 percent to reach $2.82 billion. (TechCrunch)
Those numbers are roughly in line with what the company said it was expecting in terms of growth. In fact, Spotify noted that it would have done even better had it not pulled out of Russia in April following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. (CNN Business)
Spotify had 4 million podcasts on its platform at the end of the quarter, up from 3.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Growth in the number of MAUs who engaged with its podcasts have continued to outpace total MAU growth, while podcast share of overall consumption hours on the platform reached an all-time high, the company said. (CNBC)