According to recent reports, Spotify and Apple Music are both around the 20-million subscribers mark in the US. Who’s got more though? Satellite-radio service SiriusXM. The company ended the second quarter of this year with 33.5 million subscribers, of which 28.2 million were classed as “self-pay” (i.e. not getting the service for free still as part of a recent car purchase).
The company added 429,000 net new subscribers overall last quarter, which fuelled decent growth for its business. SiriusXM saw its Q2 revenues rise by 6% year-on-year to $1.4bn, while its net profit increased by 45% to $292m – although that included an “$86 million unrealised gain associated with the change in fair value of the Company’s Pandora investment”.
The company’s earnings call with analysts last night was notable for its CEO Jim Meyer dampening down speculation that SiriusXM might merge with Live Nation. “I don’t have any comment on Live Nation. I’m not even quite sure where some of that speculation is coming from. It’s not coming from SiriusXM,” he said. “We have, I think, growing and strong cooperation between Live Nation and Sirius as we figure out how to both use assets that we have to both improve our business. But for me, that’s about it.”
Meyer also talked up the benefits of non-satellite connectivity for SiriusXM via its streaming-enabled 360L service. “Connectivity is a thrilling positive for our business,” he said. “We can use return path data to better understand our subscribers’ preferences, surface new and interesting content and a more personalised experience, and help our subscribers take that same learning and growing experience with them as they listen or even watch on mobile or other connected devices.”
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