The music streaming market leader Spotify has now hit the major milestone of 40 million paid subscribers. The company’s CEO Daniel Ek hinted so in a tweet shared today by Spotify’s official Twitter account, and now Spotify has quietly confirmed the figure to 9to5Mac.
40 is the new 30.
Million. 😄— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) September 14, 2016
Spotify is evidently holding up well against the threat of its nearest competitor, Apple Music. The new paid subscriber number is a significant increase on that of over 35 million reported in July, and gives Spotify a comfortable cushion on Apple Music – which, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook at last week’s iPhone 7 launch event, now has 17 million paid members.
Spotify is effectively building upon the formidable position it was already enjoying in the music streaming market by the time Apple Music was launched in June 2015. Both Spotify and Apple Music typically charge $9.99 a month for US customers – though, unlike Apple Music, Spotify also runs an ad-supported tier that is free to sign up for.