Spotify has reported another quarter of record profits, marking one year since it first raised the price of its Premium plans.
The Swedish audio streaming giant announced an operating income of 266 million euros ($289 million) for the second quarter, a significant turnaround from a loss of 247 million euros ($268 million) during the same period last year. The company also saw its monthly active users increase by 14% year-over-year, reaching 626 million.
“It’s an exciting time at Spotify. We keep on innovating and showing that we aren’t just a great product, but increasingly also a great business,” stated CEO Daniel Ek. “We are doing so on a timeline that has exceeded even our own expectations. This all bodes very well for the future.”
After the release of the earnings report, Spotify’s stock surged nearly 14% in pre-market trading.
In June, Spotify announced a price increase for its Premium services in the U.S. Starting this month, individual plan users will pay $12, an increase of $1; Duo plan users will pay $17, an increase of $2; and Family plan subscribers will pay $20, an increase of $3. Last July marked Spotify’s first membership cost increase in 13 years, with an average rise of $1.
Notably, despite the price hikes, Spotify managed to add seven million net subscribers in the last quarter, exceeding its own guidance by one million.
Spotify remains the leading audio streaming service globally, with users being the least likely to cancel their subscriptions compared to other audio or video streaming platforms, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
However, Spotify’s financial history has not always been positive. The company’s stock fell by more than two-thirds in 2022 due to several quarters of operating losses. In January 2023, Spotify announced it would lay off 600 employees, followed by a further reduction of 1,500 jobs, accounting for about 17% of its workforce less than a year later.