Spotify annual loss rises to 349 million euros

Spotify suffered a loss of 349 million euros last year, compared to 236 million euros the year before. However, the number of users of the streaming music service continued to increase: the company now has more than 140 million users worldwide.

According to Spotify, the loss has been incurred due to significant investments in product development, international expansions and a growth in the number of employees. Spotify’s turnover increased in 2016 from 1.93 billion to 2.93 billion euros. This is stated in the annual figures released by the company on Thursday.

Spotify promises to pay out almost 1.8 billion euros to music labels over the next two years. At the beginning of this year, the company signed agreements with the Universal Music Group and Merlin, a collective of independent labels. Spotify is still negotiating with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, Variety writes.

The number of Spotify users rose further, to 140 million, reports vice president Brian Benedik. A year ago, Spotify had 100 million active users. He said advertising revenue increased by 50 percent last year, but he didn’t provide details on the numbers. It is also not known what the growth in the number of paid subscriptions is. In March, that number was 50 million.