The day after news broke that Spotify has filed for its long-expected public offering, the company has announced that it has passed 70 million paying subscribers.
The company announced that it passed 60 million subscribers late in July, 50 million in March, and 10 million in June of 2014, which means an impressive growth of 60 million subscribers in three-and-a-half years. It last reported 140 million active users in June.
Its closest competitor, Apple Music, reported 30 million subscribers in September.
Spotify is gearing up to launch an initial public offering, expected as soon as first quarter of 2018.
The company is expected to launch an IPO as a direct listing rather than a traditional offering of shares.
The company has been gearing up for the process for years, and in 2017 renewed its licensing deals with all three major labels and the independent-label collective Merlin. However, the company has not turned a profit and posted an operating loss of $US389 million ($A545 million) in 2016.
Spotify's valuation as of December topped $US19 billion ($A27 billion), up from $US16 billion ($A22 billion) earlier in the US autumn, Reuters reported last month.
