With the rapid expansion of its podcast division, the music streaming service Spotify is attracting new advertising customers and generating billions in sales for the first time. Nevertheless, the company has to think about increasing the subscription fees for premium users.
The exclusive podcast business is becoming more and more important to the Swedish streaming service Spotify. If you can’t stand out from competitors such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal and Co. in terms of the well-stocked music library for a long time, many podcasts are considered to be unique selling points. And the cash register is ringing properly, as Spotify’s Europe boss Michael Krause confirms to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
That’s how many paying customers Spotify has. / © WinFuture / Statista
Advertising in podcasts and price increases seem overdue
Last year, the platform, which started as a pure music streaming service, earned more than a billion euros with the help of advertising. This is not only offered to free users of Spotify Free access, but also to premium users who listen to themselves through podcasts. Subscribers are offered “no commercial breaks” playback of music only, not podcasts. In addition, according to Krause, they actually have to dig deeper into their pockets for their subscription.
Buy Spotify credit from Amazon
“Just looking at inflation, prices in most countries should have been much higher by now. But we’re looking at the topic market by market, and our experience with the adjustments made so far makes us confident.” However, no price increases are currently planned for Germany. It would be quite conceivable that Spotify will have its stalled hi-fi subscription gilded with lossless CD quality in the future, even if the competition offers this in some cases at no extra charge.