- Spotify has announced that it now has 124 million paying users and the company also acquired Bill Simmons’ The Ringer
Spotify recently announced its quarterly earnings as it revealed that its gross profits increased to €474 million at a loss of €77 million. This year, Spotify said it will be an investment year as the company plans to buy more podcast studios.
Over the holiday season, a number of promotions helped Spotify hit 124 million paying users. For example, Spotify made a deal with Google to send out Home Minis to paying users.
By the end of the year, Spotify is expected to hit 300 million total users, of which half will likely be paying users.
The Ringer Acquisition
Spotify also said it is buying The Ringer, which is a leading creator of sports, entertainment, and pop culture content. The Ringer was launched by Bill Simmons in 2016.
“We look forward to putting the full power of Spotify behind The Ringer as they drive our global sports strategy,” said Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content Officer at Spotify. “As we set out to expand our sports and entertainment offerings, we wanted a best-in-class editorial team. Bill Simmons is one of the brightest minds in the game and he has successfully innovated as a writer and content creator across mediums and platforms. The Ringer’s proven track record of creating distinctive cultural content as well as discovering and developing top tier talent will make them a formidable asset for Spotify.”
The terms of this deal were undisclosed. And the deal is expected to close in Q1 2020 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
“Spotify has the unique ability to truly supercharge both content and creator talent across genres,” added Simmons. “We spent the last few years building a world-class sports and pop culture multimedia digital company and believe Spotify can take us to another level. We couldn’t be more excited to unlock Spotify’s power of scale and discovery, introduce The Ringer to a new global audience and build the world’s flagship sports audio network. We’re joining one of the best media companies in the world. It’s an incredible day for us.”
