Spotify increased its revenue significantly during 2012, reports Billboard, with figures rising from $246.7 million in 2011 to over $573 million last year.
The online music streaming service is becoming increasingly focused on paid subscriptions, but has recently come under-fire from Atoms For Peace pair Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich who criticised what they see as a lack of financial support for upcoming bands when announcing their decision to withdraw their music from the platform earlier this month.
However, when speaking to NME, a spokesperson has said the newly released figures reflect the ‘success of the business model’ which will ultimately prove to be of benefit to the music industry.
“During 2012 Spotify saw dramatically increased revenues while maintaining a free to paid conversion rate of well over 20 per cent – unheard of for a freemium business, and a clear demonstration of the success of the business model,” the spokesperson remarks.
“In 2012 the business focused on driving user growth, international expansion and product development, resulting in soaring user numbers and increased market penetration. Our key priority throughout 2013 and beyond remains bringing our unrivalled music experience to even more people while continuing to build for long-term growth – both for our company and for the music industry as a whole.”