The option of signing up for a free account wasn't made generally available to the public in the UK until 2009. Paid-for subscriptions were made available immediately but despite this, Spotify reported a $4.4 million loss in 2008. The streaming service launched on Octoand the company initially limited the sign-up for free services by making it invite-only. Spotify was founded in Stockholm in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and although the company's head office is now in London, much of its research and development remains in Stockholm. How much is Spotify worth? Streaming service gets ready to go public this week Spotify is available on almost every platform and can be integrated to smart speakers like the Google Home or Amazon Echo.

Instead, we will be working on trying to build, plan, and imagine for the long term.' 'As I mentioned during our Investor Day, our focus isn’t on the initial splash. While I appreciate that this path makes sense for most, Spotify has never been a normal kind of company. Normally, companies don’t pursue a direct listing. Normally, companies spend their day doing interviews on the trading floor touting why their stock is a good investment. So while tomorrow puts us on a bigger stage, it doesn’t change who we are, what we are about, or how we operate,' said co-found Daniel Ek in a statement ahead of the public listing. 'Spotify is not raising capital, and our shareholders and employees have been free to buy and sell our stock for years. It took over from the old model of buying albums physically or through services like iTunes and has become the way many people listen to music. The company has shaken up the music industry by offering all the tracks you want, unlimited for a single monthly payment. They get access to 30 million different songs and a range of specially curated playlists.Įven if you don't use Spotify yourself, the chances are you've heard of it. Īt last count, the company has 140 million active users, more than 60 million of whom are paid subscribers to the Premium service. Spotify is getting ready to go public this week and some have predicted the company could be worth around $25 billion (£18 billion).

Spotify martin lorentzon