Music to its ears: Spotify reaches more than 600 million users and almost $4 billion in revenue

It is that time of year when companies reveal their performance metrics, including revenue and user base. Spotify recently shared its fourth-quarter 2023 performance, announcing its business achieved strong results in Q4, meeting or surpassing all of its key performance indicators (KPIs).

During the final three months of 2023, the streaming platform saw a 23% year-over-year increase in its monthly active users (MAU), reaching 602 million, which exceeded expectations by 1 million. Premium subscriptions also grew by 15% year-over-year to 236 million, surpassing guidance by 1 million.

Spotify is showing continued growth in total revenue, too, with a 16% year-over-year increase to around $3.98 billion. While operating income recorded a loss of $80 million, the company celebrated achieving an all-time high in ad revenues, totaling $539 million.



Additionally, more folks got into the fun of the 9th annual Spotify Wrapped campaign, with participation soaring over 40% compared to last year across 170 markets. And in November, Spotify spiced up its Premium offering in the US by throwing in over 200,000 audiobook titles.

Still, to reach its goals, back in December, the Swedish company announced it was cutting 17% of its workforce—about 1,500 jobs out of its global headcount of 9,000. Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, mentioned in a conference call with analysts that the music-streaming giant would keep finding ways to cut costs, possibly leading to more job cuts in 2024. Ek said: