Sony and Warner sell over $1billion in Spotify shares
But the streaming service still has 'potential for global scale'...
Sony and Warner have sold off more than $1billion of shares in Spotify following the music streaming platform’s stock market floatation in April, respectively shedding half ($750million) and 75% ($400million) of their individual investments.
Spotify claims over 70million paid account holders globally, and recently unveiled new functions such as an AI auto-mixing DJ feature and In-Line, which will help collect more insightful metadata on artists to improve user experience.
Both labels were longstanding investors in the subscription service, raising some questions as to the reasoning behind the sales, but concerns regarding Spotify's future have been dismissed.
“We’re hugely optimistic about the growth of subscription streaming. We know it has only just begun to fulfill its potential for global scale,” Steve Cooper, Warner CEO, told recode. “We fully expect Spotify to continue to play a major role in that growth.”
Some of the revenue generated from the sales will be distributed amongst artists, although percentages and recipients have not been confirmed at the time of writing.
