Music streaming giant, Spotify, has revealed 2 million users are accessing Premium service benefits without making payment.
As reported by Variety, the news was disclosed in an SEC filing, ahead of next month’s stock market float:
“On March 21, 2018, we detected instances of approximately two million users as of December 31, 2017, who have been suppressing advertisements without payment”.
Bucking industry norm, Spotify has opted for a direct listing IPO.
Spotify Premium allows listeners to stream music and podcasts, without advertisement interruptions.
Despite the statistic, fraudulent Spotify Premium users represent only 1.3% of the total user base.
According to recent numbers, Spotify boasts 157 million monthly active users, of which 71 million are paying Premium users.
In its IPO filing, the streaming giant affirms the “risk of artificial manipulation of stream counts” could have “an adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition”.
As recently reported, Spotify has cracked down on fraudulent users, and is banning individuals who are stealing Premium benefits.
