(Reuters) – Spotify Technology SA’s (SPOT.N) paid music subscribers surged to 130 million in the first quarter, driving shares in the Swedish music streaming firm higher as its business model proved more resilient than expected in the coronavirus lockdowns.
A double-digit rise in quarterly revenue helped the company weather a virus-related decline in ad sales, which contributed less than 10% to overall revenue.
But Spotify, which earns by a mixture of subscriptions and showing ads to non-paying users, continued to solidify its commercial lead in streaming over Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).
“Despite all the turbulence around the world, we hit pretty much all the metrics,” Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek told Reuters.
The company said it started seeing a fall in users in late February in virus-affected countries such as Italy and Spain, but has seen meaningful recovery in the last few weeks.
Ek credited the company’s more than 300 partnerships with device…
Source Reuters Tech News
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