Spotify has reached 70 million paying subscribers, 10 million more than at the end of last July. This was announced by the Swedish group itself, which is thus by far the number one streaming music service in the world.
Until last September, number two was Apple Music with 30 million paying subscribers. Unlike Apple, which after a three-month trial does not provide any free tiers and requires you to pay 9,99 euros a month to access the catalogue, Spotify also offers a free service in which listening to songs is interrupted by advertising. Taking this user base into account, Spotify had a total of 140 million active users last June.
The company later thought about it for a long time, is preparing for a direct listing on the Nyse. The documents were filed last December, so it is probable that the IPO will arrive within the first quarter of 2018. The Bloomberg agency reported it in recent days. The company was valued at $19 billion last year.
A few days ago Spotify was sued on charges of having illegally published thousands of songs by the likes of Tom Pretty, Neil Young and the Doors on its catalogue. Wixen Music Publishing, which licenses the tracks, filed suit last week in California federal court, seeking $1,6 billion in damages.
