Investors Hit Play on Spotify; CEO Daniel Ek Presses Pause on Podcast

Music streaming service Spotify jumped 5% yesterday — hitting 515M monthly active users in the first quarter — as new subscribers doubled Wall Street’s expectations (see full earnings report).

Profit is the new focus after years of investing heavily into podcasts at a loss.

• In recent years, Spotify spent $1B to lock up big podcasters like Joe Rogan and Dax Shepard — dragging down margins.
• Significant podcast renewals are coming up, but Spotify is going to be “very diligent” in assessing who to bring back.

Get ready to fork over more money to Spotify — price increases are coming this year.