Spotify took centre stage at last night’s Universal Music Open Day event in London, with chief content officer Ken Parks announcing that the streaming service now has 3m paying subscribers: up from 2.5m a month and a half ago. Spotify has also confirmed that its ratio of paying subscribers to active users is now above the 20% mark, hinting at an active user base of up to 12.5m people. We reported live from the event – a mammoth liveblog post is linked to below – but highlights included Parks saying “there is not a molecule of evidence” that Spotify cannibalises iTunes downloads. UMG’s VP of digital Francis Keeling had his back, too, saying that artists who withhold their albums from streaming services risk “alienating their fanbases”. Parks also noted that Facebook integration is spurring subscriptions for Spotify. “We’ve found that users on Spotify who are Facebook connected, and exposing all their listening on the open graph on Facebook, are three times more likely to become paid users.” Read the full report – including the views of GP Bullhound, Enders Analysis and Beats by Dr Dre.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…