Spotify’s listening hours have returned to the same level as before the pandemic, the company announced today in its latest earnings release. He reported that the recovery was strongest in areas where the spread of the COVID-19 virus is apparently slowing. Spotify also said that overall consumption of podcasts has more than doubled. Spotify reported a loss of € 356 million overall in the period, The Wall Street Journal reports, despite an increase in paid subscribers.
Just three months ago, Spotify reported huge changes in listening habits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Every day now looks like the weekend,” the company wrote in its latest earnings report, referring to changes in morning routines that it saw as people spent more time at home. In late June, however, he said that consumption hours have returned to pre-pandemic levels, although he admitted that this is changing worldwide.
Spotify said Europe and Asia, where the spread of the virus appears to be under control, “led the recovery in consumption,” while Latin America is still 6 percent below peak levels after being hit by the pandemic. However, he also said that Latin America remains one of its fastest growing regions, with a 33 percent increase in monthly active users year after year.
Although consumption levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels, Spotify said the places where people listen to Spotify are still different. Listening in the car is even lower than it was before the pandemic, for example, although it is reportedly increasing.
Spotify also said that its podcast business continues to grow. The Wall Street Journal notes that the number of monthly active users listening to podcasts saw a small increase from 19 to 21 percent, but the amount of podcast content they consume more than doubled. Spotify is making huge investments in podcasts, announcing in May that Joe Rogan’s podcast will become Spotify exclusive in September, and launched support for video podcasts earlier this month. Today, Michelle Obama’s podcast was released exclusively on Spotify. Growth in podcasting is good news for Spotify’s advertising business, although this is a relatively small part of its overall revenue.
Overall, Spotify said it now has 299 million monthly active users, an increase of 29 percent compared to last year, while subscribers increased 27 percent to 138 million.