Spotify, the world's leading audio streaming and podcasting platform, announced its long-awaited return to profit in its third-quarter financial report. After the company suffered a loss of €166 million a year ago, current results showed a plus of €65 million. Such a jump in the company's financial activity is not accidental. Among the key factors that became the basis for this growth, two can be highlighted: the rising cost of premium tariff plans and a noticeable recovery in the advertising market. In particular, this summer, the cost of a premium Spotify subscription increased by $1 – from $9.99 to $10.99. However, changes in pricing policy are just the tip of the iceberg. Large-scale economic measures taken at the beginning of the year have significantly reduced costs. In addition, recently, the company has carried out optimization work in the podcast sector. These factors, together, ensured profit growth.
Along with financial indicators, the platform's audience has also grown. During the third quarter, the number of premium subscribers increased by 3%, and the number of monthly active users (MAU) increased by 4%. Both figures exceeded forecasts previously voiced by Spotify analysts. To understand the scale, compared to 2022 data, the number of Premium subscribers has increased by 16%, and the total active audience has increased by as much as 26%. The company has recorded such a rapid growth in monthly active users for the second time in its entire history. The future outlook is also optimistic, with revenue expected to grow by 3% and gross profit by 0.2% through the end of the year.
However, the report left unanswered a question on many users' minds: when will the lossless audio streaming feature announced back in February 2021 be launched? It is believed that this functionality may become part of the new "Supremium" plan, a subscription to which will cost $19.99. However, there was no official confirmation of this information in the report.