Spotify now has 195 million paying subscribers, the company announced on Tuesday, an increase of 7 million since last quarter, surpassing guidance by 1 million net adds. The company expects to cross the 200 million mark by the end of the year.
Even with that bright subscription news, Wall Street was not thrilled with the results. The stock is down more than 6 percent in after-hours trading. Spotify’s gross profit margin was 24.7 percent, two points lower than during the same quarter last year and below the company’s prior guidance. The company said this was because of an “unfavorable adjustment to prior period estimates for rights holder liabilities,” which could refer to a recent decision by the Copyright Review Board that streamers would have to pay songwriters and publishing rightsholders a larger share of music revenue.
The fact that music is only getting more expensive explains Spotify’s push into podcasting, and its library is growing. There are now 4.7 million podcasts available on the platform, up from 4.4 million the quarter prior. Although podcasting is still not profitable for Spotify, the company is succeeding in making the platform a prime destination for creators.
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