When Apple announced what will no doubt be Spotify's biggest challenge to date, Apple Music, the reigning streaming music king was ready to counter with new numbers that are sure to impress.
In a recent blog post, Spotify revealed it now has more than 20 million paying subscribers and more than 75 million active users. The company highlighted how it took five and half years to reach the 10 million subscriber level and just one additional year to double that figure which works out to an average of one new subscriber every three seconds.
Additional subscribers are good news for everyone involved, especially artists, songwriters and rights holders. As of now, Spotify has paid out more than $3 billion in royalties which includes more than $300 million in the first three months of 2015.
Based on the revised subscriber numbers, Spotify anticipates paying $13.9 million per year to global superstars (those in the top 10) and $3.3 million per artist in the Spotify top 100. Heritage artists are expected to take home $2.6 million while indie / niche artists are forecasted to earn up to $1.2 million each.
In related news, The Wall Street Journal notes that Spotify has closed a huge round of funding from an assortment of global investors. The $526 million round of funding values the company at $8.53 billion and puts it in an even better position to compete with Apple Music.