The world leader company in streaming music Spotify declared its intention to go public!
Launched in 2008, the Swedish company is available in 61 countries and boasts 71 million paying subscribers and more than 159 million monthly active listeners.
The firm has now stated its plan to sell its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker name SPOT. As BBC reports, investors trading have valued the company over $23 billion, after its shares have traded as high as $132.50 on private markets.
Despite its revenue of $2.37 billion in 2015, $3.6 billion in 2016 and $4.99 billion in 2017, the company also reported a net loss of $1.5 billion last year, and about $650 million the year before. Moreover they were recently hit with a $1.6 billion lawsuit for copyright infringement.
“Music has just been the beginning. We’re an audio first platform—as a top provider of podcasts, we’re also connecting audiences to the conversations that we think will shape the future.
And we have even bigger aspirations. We envision a cultural platform where professional creators can break free of their medium’s constraints and where everyone can enjoy an immersive artistic experience that enables us to empathize with each other and to feel part of a greater whole. But to realize this vision, professional creators must be able to earn a fair living doing what they love, where monetization is at the core of a creative proposition and not an afterthought. We care deeply about our creators and our users and we believe Spotify is a win-win for both,” wrote Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in a letter addressed to potential investors.
