Spotify CEO Daniel Ek On “Over-Investing”, Corporate Reorg As Q4 Sees Big Jump In Users But More Red Ink
deadline.com“In hindsight, I got a little carried away and over-invested relative to the uncertainty I saw in the market,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said this morning as the company reported a jump in users but wider losses, a week after announcing a reorganization of top management and hundreds of layoffs.
The music streaming giant announced 489 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2022 (up 20%, its largest ever quarterly bump), with 205 premium subscribers (up 14%).
Both numbers beat forecasts. However, losses widened on investments in podcasting and other costs. Spotify last week laid off about 600 staffers amid a shuffle at the top that saw Dawn Ostroff exit as chief content officer and advertising business officer.
The exec, a former president of entertainment at The CW, and Condé Nast Entertainment had been a key architect of Spotify’s strategy around podcasts, which have grown rapidly to about 5 million on the service, led by deals for The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy.
Read more on deadline.com