The big picture: Spotify turned in a much improved financial report for the third quarter but still isn't profitable. A new promotion with Google could help add even more premium users but will it be enough to actually make money?
Spotify on Thursday revealed it added four million premium subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total paid user base to 87 million - a 40 percent year-over-year increase.
Monthly active users, which include the wealth of ad-supported free tier listeners, reached 191 million which represents a 28 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago.
Financially speaking, Spotify's quarterly revenue grew by 31 percent to 1.352 billion euros ($1.54 billion). Even still, Spotify finished with an operating loss on the quarter of six million euros ($6.8 million). That's far better than the $102 million the company lost in the second quarter but it's still a loss.
Looking ahead, Spotify anticipates a total premium subscriber count of between 93 million and 96 million by the end of the fourth quarter with monthly active users somewhere in the range of 199 million to 206 million. Total revenue, meanwhile, should be in the ballpark of 1.35 billion euros to 1.55 billion euros.
In case you missed it, Spotify Premium for Family master account owners can now claim a free Google Home Mini. The offer is good through December 31, 2018, while supplies last. Interested parties can claim their smart speaker over on Spotify's landing page.
Lead image courtesy Richard Drew, AP