Spotify‘s Q4 2023 financial results and user numbers are in.
The headline stat from the company’s investor filing today (February 6): Spotify’s global Premium Subscriber base grew to 236 million paying users in Q4 2023 (ended December 31).
That was up 15% YoY, and up by 4%, or 10 million net subscribers, on the 226 million SPOT counted at the end of the prior quarter (Q3 2023).
The music streaming company’s 10 million net subscriber additions in Q4 were 1 million ahead of guidance.
SPOT’s Premium Subscriber net additions of 10 million in Q4 contributed to record full-year net Premium Subscriber additions of 31 million.
Spotify reported that its Premium Subscriber base saw double-digit YoY growth “across all regions”, with an “outperformance led by Rest of World and Latin America,” as well as a “better than expected Q4 promotional campaign intake”.
Monthly Active Users:
Spotify’s total number of Monthly Active Users, which combine paying users and ad-supported users, grew 23% YoY to 602 million at the end of Q4 2023.
That total MAU figure was also 1 million above guidance.
SPOT’s net MAU additions of 28 million in Q4 represented the second largest Q4 net MAU addition performance in the company’s history, contributing to record full-year net MAU additions of 113 million.
Spotify said in its investor filing on Tuesday (February 6) that its Monthly Active Users saw “sustained double-digit YoY growth” in all regions and an “outperformance in Latin America and Rest of World”.
Premium Revenue
In terms of finances, in Q4, Spotify’s Premium /subscriber revenues stood at €3.170 billion ($3.40bn), up 21% YoY at Constant currency, and driven, according to Spotify “by subscriber gains and the effects of price increases”.
July 2023 marked the first time in its 15-year history that Spotify increased its flagship subscription price point in several territories including the US and UK.
AD-SUPPORTED REVENUE
Spotify’s Ad-Supported Revenue in Q4 2023 was €501 million ($538.62m), up 17% YoY at Constant Currency, reflecting YoY growth “across all regions” according to SPOT’s investor presentation.
SPOT reported that its music advertising revenue “grew double-digits driven by growth in impressions sold and stable pricing”.
Spotify generated €3.671 billion ($3.946bn) in total quarterly revenue (including Premium and ad-supported), which was up 20% YoY at constant currency.
PROFITABILITY
The company’s Gross Margin finished at 26.7%, up from 25.3% in Q4 2022.
Meanwhile, in terms of profitability, Spotify posted an operating loss of €75 million ($80.63m) in Q4 2023, versus an operating loss of €231 million ($248.34m) in Q4 2022.
SPOT reported that its €75 million operating loss in Q4 2023 “reflected €143 million ($153.73m) in net severance related and real estate optimization charges, €139 million ($149.43m) of which were included in Operating Expenses”.
Excluding those “€143 million in charges associated with efficiency actions taken late in the quarter”, Spotify reported that it generated “€68 million in Adjusted Operating Income”, which it noted, is “more than double the Operating Income we achieved in Q3 2023”.
Spotify posted an operating income of €32 million ($34.82m) for Q3 2023 (ended September 30).
Those ‘severance-related‘ charges came as a result of Spotify slashing around 17% of its global workforce in a round of jobs cuts in December.
The company reported in an investor filing at the end of Q3 that its workforce consisted of 9,241 employees globally, which means that over 1,500 jobs were affected by that round of layoffs.
Spotify’s operating expenses in Q4 2023 rose 6% YoY at Constant currency to €1.055 billion ($1.134bn), due, according to SPOT, “primarily to €139 million in charges related to efficiency efforts“.
In terms of guidance for Q1 2024, Spotify forecasts that it will reach 618 million MAUs, an addition of around 16 million net new MAUs in the quarter.
The company projects its total Premium Subscriber base to hit 239 million in Q1, an addition of approximately 3 million net new subscribers in the quarter.
Spotify forecasts an operating income of €180 million for Q1, and total revenue of €3.6 billion.
“With revenue and profitability trends both inflecting favorably heading into 2024, we view the business as well positioned to deliver improving growth and profitability as we progress towards delivering against our Investor Day goals.”
Spotify
Spotify told investors on Tuesday: “We ended 2023 with strong Q4 performance, as all of our KPIs met or exceeded guidance.”
It added: “With revenue and profitability trends both inflecting favorably heading into 2024, we view the business as well positioned to deliver improving growth and profitability as we progress towards delivering against our Investor Day goals.”
All EUR-USD conversions made at the average rate of the relevant period according to the European Central Bank
