Spotify Nearly Doubles Revenue in 2015

Company is approaching 100 million users, with 30 million paying for the privilege

Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Elk speaks at a Spotify event
Getty Images

Spotify AB almost doubled its revenue in 2015 — unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the company is making money.

The Euros grew 81 percent from 2014, but Spotify still lost money last year, per the Wall Street Journal. In fact, it actually lost a little more than the prior comparable 12-month period.

Increased royalty payments — themselves basically doubling year over year — to artists and labels are at least partially to blame here.

The private Luxembourg-based company has to be pretty pleased with its adoption, however. Spotify is approaching 100 million users, and 30 million of those are paid subscribers.

Meanwhile, competition in the marketplace — like Apple Music and Jay Z’s Tidal — is also growing.

Generally, that’s provided some much-needed good news for underpaid artists. Sales from streaming increased 45 percent in 2015, making up nearly half of the world’s digital-music revenue. For the first time ever, that category topped revenue from sales of physical products, such as CDs.

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