Spotify announced in a blog post today that it has 40 million active users and 10 million subscribers paying for ad-free streaming. Those numbers clearly put it in the lead among music streaming services searching for customers.
The unlimited music streaming business has heated up in recent years as music catalogs have grown larger and users have fast enough cellular data to support streaming music while on the go. There are a number of competing services out there, including Deezer, Rhapsody, Rdio, Beats Music, Xbox Music and Google Play Music All Access, all vying for consumer interest.
At least for right now, Spotify is at the top of the heap.
Paris, France-based Deezer, which isn’t available in the U.S. yet, reported late last year that it had 5 million subscribers, while Rhapsody comes in a distant third with 1.7 million paying customers.
The existing music streaming ecosystem may see a shake-up in the future.
Apple is reportedly planning to buy Beats Electronics, which operates Beats Music. While its fairly new streaming service has a small customer base compared to Spotify’s millions of subscribers, an Apple acquisition could lead to a major marketing push from the Cupertino-based company. Google and Microsoft are both pushing their own music services as well.
All of this comes shortly after Spotify acquired The Echo Nest, a music recommendation engine that powered parts of Rhapsody, Xbox Music, Rdio and other services.
