Spotify Q1 2020 Earnings First Signs of Pre-Recession Weakness
Report by
Mark Mulligan

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The 20,000 Foot View: 2020 was a solid quarter for Spotify but showed early signs of impact across premium and especially ad supported. With a global recession looming, these may be the first signs of vulnerability in a challenged economic climate.
Key Insights
- Spotify ended with million subscribers, up on
- Premium ARPU to – the lowest figure Spotify went public, below the (FY) 2015 high of
- Premium ARPU thus reduced by more than third and will be pushed further by new products, offers emerging market growth
- Spotify’s MAU-to-subscriber fell points from in 2019 in 2020, and in 2019, to faster free user growth
- Spotify is both ARPU and conversion rates the pursuit of emerging market
- Latin America Rest of World were the of Spotify’s growth during 2020, for of all new subscribers; year previously the share was
- Premium revenue up year on year but only up on 2019
- Ad-supported revenue up on 2019 but down 2019 – in 2019 the decrease was only
- Future ad will likely be negatively impacted a softening ad market in coming recession
- Spotify has momentum in podcasts, passing Apple 2020 to become the most podcast platform, with of podcast using it
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Spotify, Alphabet