Spotify has announced that it has expanded its premium subscriber base to 15 million users. In a statement on the company's website, it revealed its year-end subscriber numbers for 2014. The company has grown to 15 million paid, premium users and 60 million active users in total.
Spotify stated on their website, "We had an amazing 2014 at Spotify and owe it all to you, the music fans who listen, discover, share and celebrate music and artists with us every day of the year."
The company had 10 million paid users in May of 2014 according to Billboard, which indicates a solid strategy in converting free users over to premium accounts.
News has been looking good on the business front for Spotify of late. Although the company did not turn a profit in 2013, the Swedish streaming giant did increase revenue during the fiscal year and losses are getting smaller. This was buoyed by small profits being turned in France the UK, despite European rivals like Deezer controlling a large portion of the market.
It was reported that Google expressed interest in purchasing Spotify after the company was valued between four and five billion dollars. Nothing came of it and Google has been focusing on its new streaming service YouTube Music Key.
Spotify made a big move in 2014 to partner with Uber allowing users to create the soundtrack their own ride by hooking up their spotify accounts to the car they were being driven in. This gives users the opportunity to choose what music they want to listen to, a potentially nightmarish scenario for drivers if a particularly awful song has become popular at the time.
Despite all of this success, the service has come under fire for low streaming payouts to artists. Spotify gives away 70% of its income for royalty payouts, but the rate per stream has come under fire, notably for song-writers and producers, with examples like Aloe Blacc making just over $4,000 on 168,000,000 million streams.
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