Queen Spotify ******** on Pandora and ruining iTunes' LIFE
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The number of paying Spotify subscribers has grown to ten million globally driven by mobile usage -- noting a major landmark number for the music industry as it looks to monthly streaming services as the future of the business.
Yet it is the rate of growth in the music business’ No. 1 market in the United States that is most pleasing to industry insiders. According to sources familiar with the company’s data, Spotify has grown to more than 3 million paying subscribers in less than three years since launching here in July 2011.
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Based on Spotify’s current rate of the growth and people familiar with its internal data, Billboard estimates it will pay up to $1 billion to the labels and publishers this year alone. As of last December, the company had paid out up to a total of $1 billion in licensing fees to the music business since its October 2008 launch.
Overall US paid subscription revenues rose 57% to $628 million last year and the number of subscribers rose 81% to 6.1 million, according to the RIAA.