Spotify is by far one of my all-time guilty pleasures. I discovered it a couple years back while still staying truly devoted to a few different music streaming sites. What sets Spotify apart from the likes of Pandora, for instance, is the abundance of tracks, artists and albums to choose from and the ability to play any song of your choice when the account is updated to premium. The number one thing that makes my commute all the more enjoyable is the stream of all my favorite music, given that my moods switch out faster than the fellow bus or train passengers, I am free to play whatever I feel.
Numerically, the music app offers over 30 million songs, ranging from all types of genres, offered across 58 countries; it’s free for users, with advertisements, or charges $10 a month for an updated premium feature, which allows the user to skip tracks, use the app without interruptions and continue to use it on a mobile device offline. However, recent financial data shows that over the past year, the company has lost $197 million. It’s a huge decrease – as it is triple the amount from 2013 when the company lost an estimated $68 million – despite accruing an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue last year. Spotify hopes to entice more advertising and bring in more money through the stream of videos, as it blames the concept of licensing and expansion to be the predominant cause of the financial losses. The app has over 60 million users, 25% of which are premium users who pay a monthly fee, but it hasn’t been enough to reverse the tide of cash flow.
Some artists do not see the point of their music streaming live on the app as they find it incompatible with their deserved compensation and while you may find a lot of the music you wish to listen to, or perhaps create a throwback playlist, some mainstream artists like Taylor Swift, have pulled off their music as a form of rebellion for not being properly reimbursed. 
The coming months will prove challenging to the streaming service which, even though it is leaps ahead of other streaming competitors, continues to hemorrhage revenue.
Source: Mashable/New York Times
