Spotify plans to launch in 80 other countries

Spotify audio streaming service intends to almost double its geographical footprint and launch in 85 other countries, adding 36 languages ​​to its platform in the process.

The Swedish company announced on Tuesday the international expansion, at a live broadcast event, attended by Justin Bieber, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Spotify said the expansion, in what is largely seen as developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean, will allow an additional billion people to use the platform.

In the next few days, Spotify will be launched in countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Samoa, Jamaica, Bahamas and Belize.

“These moves represent Spotify’s largest expansion to date,” Spotify said. After expansion, Spotify will be available in over 170 countries.

Spotify was launched in 2008 just one year after the launch of the first iPhone and has accumulated 345 million monthly active users in 95 countries. Of these, 155 million are premium subscribers.

While Spotify started as a music streaming platform, it now allows people to listen to podcasts, audio books and meditations.

The Stockholm-based company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to provide an exclusive series of podcasts, including a new show by Barack and Michelle Obama, starring Bruce Springsteen.

Spotify faces stiff competition from Apple, Amazon and Google, which have launched their own music streaming services in recent years.

The company’s biggest competitor is, without a doubt, Apple Music, and Spotify is involved in a bitter antitrust dispute with Apple. Spotify doesn’t think it’s fair for Apple to pay a commission or what it sees as a “fee” when users subscribe and pay for its service through the Apple App Store. He lodged a complaint with the European Commission in March 2019 and an investigation is ongoing.

Spotify’s share price fell 4% to $ 350 on Monday and fell 0.5% to $ 348 in after-hours trading.