Last June, Spotify revealed that it had 140 million monthly users overall, and six weeks later it announced that it had 60 million paying subscribers. Those dates are a little out of kilter, but it’s safe to say, through a little creative guesstimation, that Spotify’s paid user base represented something like 39-40 percent of its overall user base. That’s a huge increase on the 25 percent figure from early 2015.
In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, Spotify revealed that it had 159 million monthly average users (MAUs) as of December 31, 2017, of which 71 million subscribe to a $10 monthly ad-free plan. In effect, 44 percent of its users are now on a paid plan. By the end of this year, Spotify projects that it will have between 198 million and 208 million MAUs, of which 92 million to 96 million are paying. This is roughly consistent with its previous trajectory, which shows that Spotify gains 10 million new paid members every five to six months. While hitting the magic 200 million MAU milestone will arguably be the bigger headline-grabber (if it happens), the numbers also indicate that Spotify’s paid subscription base is edging ever closer to even, at more than 46 percent.
Spotify expects its paid subscriber ratio to hit 46% by the end of 2018