The world of music streaming is a competitive one and Apple Music has plenty to shout about. But if there's one streamer that it seems set to perpetually play catch up to, it's Spotify.
The Swedish streamer has been around longer than most which gave it a huge leg up on some of the competition. But it continues to grow in ways few others can compete with and its latest quarter results drive that point home more than ever.
According to those results, Spotify now has more than 500 million active monthly users. That's the first time it's achieved such a milestone, and it's a huge number.
Music to someone's ears
While Apple doesn't share much data about how Apple Music is doing, Spotify isn't bothered about who knows its numbers — likely because they're so positive. A press release confirmed the milestone, adding that the streamer's 515 million active monthly users is a 22% increase from the previous year.
It's a similar story for subscriptions as well, with a 15% growth giving Spotify 210 million people who now pay for their music.
.@Spotify's strongest Q1 since going public in 2018 and the second largest quarter of MAU growth in our history. Thank you to our teams worldwide for all you accomplished. More here: https://t.co/rkCQ3HWu43 pic.twitter.com/NC8FWGG4sRApril 25, 2023
Spotify also says that it saw its total revenue grow by 14% to €3.0 billion ($3.3 billion) thanks to those subscriber gains.
All of this is of course huge news for Spotify, but the release doesn't mention when it will get around to launching its HiFi tier. Apple Music has its own lossless streaming capabilities, but Spotify lags behind here. It also isn't clear whether Spotify will charge a premium for high-bitrate streams.
Whether you'll be strapping on the best headphones you can find and listening to Spotify's higher-quality streams any time soon is anyone's guess, but with half a billion people listening in we have to imagine it's on the way. The sooner the better.
In the meantime, Apple has some lossless and spatial audio music ready and waiting for you.
