Spotify Newsletter #120

Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News

Jul 29, 2022

Hello and thanks for reading the latest issue of the Spotify Newsletter!

Let’s check on those second-quarter numbers: Spotify reported revenue above analysts' estimates on Wednesday, helped by a 14% jump in paying subscribers as more users listened to its podcasts, and the company forecast an upbeat current quarter.

Spotify is awesome. People love Spotify. Not Neil Young, but other, more well-adjusted folks who love music streaming.

Mr. Young’s music will be back on the streaming service before we flip the calendar to 2023. Joni Mitchell first, then Young. Book it!

Aside from the strong earning report there was plenty of news, specifically the demise of Car Thing: After less than a year of general sale, the company announced it had stopped making the dashboard accessory in its quarterly earnings report.

So that happened. Well, it kind of happened, and now it’s on the shelf.

In-car listening, along with audio tech for autos, is surely not going to be overlooked by Team Spotify. Lots of cars on the road, lots of drivers wanting to - easily - tap into their Spotify playlists - aside from the smartphone, of course, which you can plug in.

The name was silly. The marketing was nothing to crow about. The concept is fine, which is why I fully expect Spotify to pull out the car/streaming/device file sooner rather than later and jump back into the hardware/auto arena.

Lots of great news for the week. Happy to deliver in a neat digest on a Friday morning. Have a great day!

★In the SPOTlight★

🔥 Spotify’s subscribers rise to 188M

Spotify’s number of premium subscribers rose to 188 million in its second quarter, while its monthly active users (MAU) now sit at 433 million. That’s a year-over-year increase of 14 percent and 19 percent respectively, and compares to the 182 million and 422 million figures it announced last quarter.

🔥 Spotify has stopped making its Car Thing dashboard accessory

Car Thing had a bit of a weird release.

🔥 Ed Sheeran first artist to reach 100 million Spotify followers

Sheeran, 31, is by far the most popular artist on the streaming platform, substantially ahead of Ariana Grande (81.64 million followers), Billie Eilish (66.18 million), Drake (65.40 million) and Justin Bieber (63.49 million).

🔥 What’s Going On With the Hardcore Porn Images on Spotify?

There's porn on Spotify, but the platform doesn't allow it.

🔥 Spotify says Kate Bush streams jumped 9,000% thanks to ‘Stranger Things’ (and TikTok)

Spotify said that streams of Kate Bush’s 1985 single “Running Up That Hill” jumped 9,000% after the song was featured prominently in a new episode of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Netflix and Spotify collaborated on a playlist based on the hit show (which cost over $30 million per episode — yikes!), so it makes sense that Spotify would extoll the virtues of the British star.