Spotify monthly active user base reaches 100 million

Headphones are seen in front of a logo of online music streaming service Spotify in this February 18, 2014 illustration picture.

Reuters/Christian Hartmann

Swedish music streaming service Spotify said on Monday its user base had grown to 100 million, up from 75 million previously, as it pushed into new markets and despite competition from the likes of Apple Music.

Spotify has the music streaming industry’s biggest paid subscriber base, with 30 million users paying to listen, but the vast majority still tune in for free with commercial breaks.

Competition is fierce with Apple Music launched just last year and already claiming 13 million paid users while Alphabet’s Google competes with Google Music and Youtube.

Sources have told Reuters that Amazon.com Inc is preparing its own standalone service.

Spotify, founded in 2006, pays more than 80 percent of its revenue to record labels and artists and has not yet shown a profit as it spends to grow internationally.

Last year, it made an operating loss of 184.5 million euros ($209 million), widening from 165.1 million in 2014.

(Reporting by Mia Shanley; editing by Jason Neely)