Spotify Premium crosses 40 million paying subscribers

Just moments after disclosing its 39 millionth paying subscriber, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has announced 40 million paying subscribers.  “40 is the new 30. Million,” Ek cheekily tweeted just moments ago, with a smiley emoticon to top it off.
The announcement was followed by a parade of congratulations from Twitter followers.
The latest milestone means that Spotify has the most paying subscribers, for any streaming music service.  That of course includes Apple Music, which most recently revealed 17 million paying subscribers.  Apple Music is adding roughly a million new subscribers a month, though Spotify appears to be besting that rate.
The 40 million mark could help Spotify make its case for ‘freemium,’ which involves funneling tens of millions of free subscribers into paid accounts.  Spotify have been under heavy pressure to close its free tier, but the presence of 40 million actively paying music fans — may of whom started with free accounts — offers quite the business counterargument.
Meanwhile, the broader streaming music space is careening past 100 million total paying subscribers, with Spotify driving a large percentage of that total.  Other heavy contributors include Sirius XM Radio and Apple Music, with smaller contributions coming from Tidal, Rhapsody, and Deezer.

Posted by Paul Resnikoff on Digital Music News, read the full article here.