![]() ![]() To Spotify, that meant drivers in roughly 140 million cars might stream Spotify more - or start paying for it if they don't already - if a device could replicate Apple's Car Play or Android Auto for them.Ĭurrently, Car Thing works only with Spotify's premium tier. But while roughly 50% to 70% of cars on US roads may be able to connect to a phone, they're not so fresh-off-the-line as to have an entertainment display that easily streams tunes and podcasts. He says Americans spent an "insane" 70 billion hours a year on the road pre-pandemic. Spotify's main listening location is the home, but the car is a close second, said Gustav Söderström, Spotify's chief research and development officer. But getting the device and using it - you can understand more the problem they're going after." "I was just interested in seeing Spotify's take on actually building their own hardware," said Suda, a 26-year-old student in Houston, who drives a 2012 Honda. ![]() But Spotify is betting that Suda and about 140 million of you have something in common: Your car doesn't have a fancy infotainment system to rival a Tesla's. Unlike him, you probably didn't spend more time streaming music than sleeping last year. Suda was one of the earliest customers to get his hands on an invite-only release of Car Thing, Spotify's first-ever hardware device, which goes on sale Tuesday. Matt Suda spent 206,989 of them - more than a third of last year - listening to Spotify. While labels have generally been more keen on subscriber growth, the freemium model has if anything become more important than ever in the streaming market.A year has 525,600 minutes. Premium revenue grew 22% year-on-year to €2.5 billion. Total revenue was up 23% year-on-year at €2.864 billion. “While we continue to monitor the uncertain macro environment, we are very pleased with the resilience of the business, particularly our strength in MAUs and subscribers,” said Spotify in its financial summary.įor Q3, Spotify is forecasting premium subscribers at 194m (similar growth to Q2 at 3.2%) and MAUs at 450m. In Q4 of 2021, Spotify added eight million subscribers in three months, while in Q3 it signed up seven million. But that is an improvement on the first three months of the year, when the quarterly increase was just 1% (two million subscribers), again with Russia affecting the performance. Premium users increased by just 3% (six million subscribers) compared to Q1. However, the quarter-on-quarter movement shows growth slowing down compared to recent years. The figure would have been higher but for the effects of the Russia withdrawal and an outage in March. The streaming giant noted that most key metrics surpassed guidance, with monthly active users (MAUs) powering ahead 19% year-on-year to 433m. In the Q2 figures, Spotify’s premium subscribers increased by 14% year-on-year to 188 million. Kantar also reported on the impact of the cost of living crisis recently on the wider audio streaming market. While the Spotify rate of growth has been slowing, there is as yet no sign of the cancellations that have been experienced by Netflix. ![]() Second, rising inflation and component costs, coupled with the expanded lead time needed to order parts, has significantly altered the risk reward of continuing to lean into further product development." Speaking on the earnings call today, chief financial officer Paul Vogel said: "First, we tested a number of price points and we frankly haven’t seen the volume at the higher prices that would make the current product financially viable. ![]() The company reported an operating loss of €194 million in the quarter.Ī year ago, CEO Daniel Ek described Car Thing as a “massive opportunity”. In its Q2 results, Spotify revealed that it had stopped production of Car Thing - incurring a €31 million charge as a result. The product had been positioned as a bold new entry into in-car streaming. Perhaps of more significance, however, is the company’s decision to halt production of its Car Thing device. All eyes have been on the Spotify numbers for signs of a streaming switch-off. ![]()
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