Madrid, (EFE).- The Swedish music platform Spotify lost 430 million euros in 2022, almost 13 times more than the 34 million lost in 2021, despite the fact that during that period it became the first streaming music service to exceed 200 million paying users.
The platform’s turnover reached 11,727 million in 2022, 21.3% more than in 2021, according to the data published this Tuesday.
In the last quarter of the year, its revenues grew by 18% to 3,166 million, of which 2,717 million corresponded to its payment service (18% more) and 449 to advertising (14% more).
However, the company obtained net losses between October and December of 270 million, compared to negative 39 million a year earlier.
According to the company, these losses are a consequence of the growth in expenses due to higher personnel costs due to the growth of the workforce, the increase in advertising spending and currency exchange, which had a negative impact of 54 million.
Regarding staff, just a week ago, Spotify announced a 6% reduction in its workforce, made up of some 8,600 employees worldwide.
Users grow 14%, especially in Latin America
At the user level, Spotify had 205 million people in its paid version at the end of December 2022, 14% more than a year ago, after growing in all regions, but especially in Latin America.
The company has become the first streaming music platform to exceed 200 million users, after gaining 25 million users during 2022, which would be 27 million if the company’s departure from Russia is excluded.
In addition, during the fourth quarter of the year, active users of the platform grew by 20% compared to the same period of the previous year, to 489 million, thanks to the good performance of the company in India and Indonesia and the campaigns of marketing.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2023, Spotify expects to reach revenues of 3.1 billion and losses of 194 million due to severance payments, which the company estimates will cost between 35 and 45 million, and an unfavorable exchange rate.
In addition, the company will reach 207 million paying subscribers and 500 million unique monthly users.