Music streaming platform Spotify reached two billion paid subscribers, a first for a music streaming platform. At the same time, The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" released in 2019 (3,332,163,962 plays) overtook Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," which held the previous record for most streams.
According to The Verge's annual report, Spotify's active user count (users who have used the service, such as the website or app, at least once in a given period) has increased 14% from last year to 489 million, exceeding the company's expectations.
However, just a few days before the announcement, Spotify announced that it would lay off about 600 employees, or about 6% of its workforce, consistent with the trend of large-scale downsizing in the technology industry. According to it's financial summary, the company recorded a loss of €230.1 million (about ¥32.5 billion) this quarter.
Spotify's competitors include Apple Music and Amazon Music, but the number of paid subscribers for those platforms is not publicly disclosed. According to Music Ally, Apple Music has about 60 million paid subscribers and Amazon Music has 55 million.