The 14 steps that led Spotify to a $1.8 billion turnaround

Welcome to newsletter #273. Today, the courage, conviction, pivot, and profit that's turned around the fortunes of the world's favourite music streamer...

Who doesn’t love Spotify? It’s my little green go-to for music. 90s house on my iPhone on a morning run. Dua Lipa for the kids on TV. De La Soul on CarPlay, volume set to ridiculous, when driving down memory lane.

I rely on it, so does my family, as well as a quarter of a billion music fans worldwide. And 17 years after it launched, it’s turned its first full year profit.

It’s been a long time coming, but an 11 per cent increase in paying subs and two price hikes in one year got it over the line. I happily pay, and I’m delighted for them. 🙌

There are clearly two standouts in that chart.

The huge loss in 2017, when it spent a billion dollars it didn’t have on a hell for leather international growth drive to juice interest in its 2018 IPO.

And then the green profitability spike, which I’m focusing on today, because it’s a turnaround for the ages. US$1.8 billion. From $500+ million loss to profit. In one year.

It’s one I have special respect for as I’ve been there myself.

My video AI start-up Oovvuu also spent millions of investor capital ahead of a planned IPO, only for our growth spike to collide with Covid. Shit happens.

But there are valuable lessons in Spotify’s boom, and the Oovvuu experience, that are transformational for the news industry’s subscription ambitions.

Hidden within the details are 13 steps that Spotify took that will work for the news industry, and that’s what I am sharing today.

---

Before I dive in, join me in welcoming a host of new subs joining our 4,200+ strong community overnight from Google, TikTok, McKinsey in Taipei, Canva, IPG in Los Angeles, Australia’s largest media group Nine, the social platform of the UK’s General Medical Council, full-service media agency Rise in Chicago, and many more.

And a heartfelt thank you to my sponsor this week, Avid Collective. I’ll be joining them on stage in Sydney next week. Give them a click to see what they do…

---

And there are still a few spots left for my buddy’s online AI Upgrade course for PR and media pros on March 18. To get 10 per cent off use the code: FUTUREMEDIA

---

Now back to how Spotify turned its red death spiral into a sumptuous green turnaround in one year with a 13-point masterplan that any publisher can replicate.

Let’s find out together, because this is Future Media…