Spotify Earnings: The Music Streaming War Is Heating Up

The market has reacted. So just to give you an idea, I mean 2014 was really the year where we started to see Spotify was the leader in this industry scale. It was founded in 2006, but it's first five, 10 years of existence, it was a much smaller business, just trying to A, get the access to the content that it needed and then B, just to build it ou... See more

He tells The Verge that Spotify will incorporate a hybrid business model with three distinct parts. One will involve the typical user subscription revenue, another is advertising dollars through its podcast ad marketplace and music streaming ads, and the third is a la carte options, like helping musicians and podcasters sell merch, tour tickets, or... See more

The streaming giant is asking record labels and artists for money to advertise their songs within its app, arguing that they’ll reach new fans and increase their popularity. The effort is controversial because it’s complicating wider talks over long-term music rights between Spotify and the record companies.