Spotify saw a 31% YoY increase in MAUs to 271 million, a 200% YoY growth in podcast hours streamed, and a 29% YoY growth in Premium subscribers to 124 million in Q4 2019. Revenue grew 25% YoY to €1.85 billion, with Premium revenues "slightly better" and subscription revenue slightly weaker than forecast. Premium revenue was up 24% YoY to €1.63 billion, and ad revenue was up 23% YoY to $217 million. Trends in MAU growth, and implications: In terms of MAUs, growth "picked up again" across Europe, North America, and Latin America, while the Rest of the World remains Spotify's fastest growing region. Spotify is sticking to making only conservative estimates for 2020 as its data, especially around podcasts is reasonably new. This is despite the fact that MAU growth, which has been consistently growing at Spotify in 2019, typically converts to Premium subscribers. User retention is up in all of Spotify's top 20 markets. Conversion of MAUs growth to paid subscriptions fluctuates, bEk said. "But in general what we've seen in history is that when we see top of funnel growth in MAU growth, we see conversion come to Premium over time," he said, adding that "then we see the benefits on the revenue side from more subscribers and more advertising inventory". ARPU for Premium business was down 5% YoY to €4.65 due to extending the free trial to all plans. The most important thing right now is to grow users and subscribers, and "we will continue to stress…
