Hello! Thanks for tuning in for the latest issue of the Spotify Newsletter.

I hope everyone is having a delightful summer.

Summer fun doesn’t mean any slowdown for Spotify news. Some accounting info rolled out this week: Spotify users who’ve subscribed to its Premium service through Apple’s in-app purchase system will no longer be supporting it as a payment method.

Due to Apple taking 30 percent of in-app purchases, Spotify users who were subscribed through in-app purchases were being charged an extra $3 per month compared to subscribing through Spotify directly.

So there’s that.

Spotify is fully ending support for Apple's in-app billing service. Users who signed up through that avenue will be bumped to ad-based basic.

Have a great day / great weekend!

★In the SPOTlight★

⭐️ Spotify’s Mikaela Lancaster Talks ‘Significant Impact of Streaming to the Music Economy’

The borderless streaming business provided a glimmer of joy for Australia’s music community in 2022, a time when travel was spotty and full-scale international touring was more hopeful than a reality.

That’s one of the takeaways from Spotify’s Loud & Clear report.

⭐️ Alex Cooper’s ‘Call Her Daddy’ Podcast Brings Big Bump in Streams for Anitta, John Mayer, More

At a time when more than 120,000 songs are being uploaded to streaming services every day and artists are continually seeking ways to stand out, Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, exclusively available on Spotify, has brought a big boost in streams — at least on Spotify, which happens to be the world’s biggest paid streaming service.

⭐️ Spotify is removing App Store payment option for legacy subscribers

Existing Spotify subscribers who have been paying for the service through Apple’s App Store can no longer pay using this payment method. The users paying through that mechanism will be moved to a free account at the end of their current billing cycle. They will then have to purchase a paid plan through the website.

⭐️ Spotify had 44.4m US subscribers in February, Apple Music had 32.6m, according to new data

We know that at the close of Q1 2023 (the three months to end of March), Spotify had a total global paying subs audience of 210 million.

That number was revealed as part of the company’s Q1 earnings results, in which SPOT told investors that added 5 million net Premium subscribers during the quarter.

⭐️ Rihanna Celebrates Making Spotify History ‘Wit No New Album’

The "Don't Stop the Music" singer is the first female artist to have 10 songs reach 1 billion streams.

🗣 Podcast Action 🗣

• How Meghan’s Spotify departure signifies the platform’s strategic shift

• Rumble CEO would “love” to sign Joe Rogan when Spotify JRE contract expires

• Spotify now hosts 100,000 video podcasts + a video on How To Create one

🎧 The Playlist List 🎧

• Tyler, The Creator Celebrates After Scoring First Song With 1B Spotify Streams

• Drake, Kendrick Lamar Titles Among Spotify’s Most Streamed Rap Albums Of All Time

💡 Tips & Tricks 💡

• How To Crossfade Tracks On Spotify & Enable Smooth Transitions

• How to better organize your Spotify Playlists with folders

• How to Get the Best Audio Quality Out of Apple Music and Spotify

• How to update your Spotify payment method

🤖 Spot(ai)fy 🤖

• How Does Spotify Use AI?

⚽️ Spotify FC ⚽️

• Joan Laporta and the Board of Directors visit the Spotify Camp Nou works

⚡️ Ek Notes ⚡️

• Daniel Ek’s Neko Health bags €60M from Lakestar, Atomico, others

🖌 Design Notes 🖌

• Experimenting at Scale, the Spotify Home Way

• Multiple Layers of Abstraction in Design Systems

• Spotify Veteran Dan Sormaz Joins Fubo to Lead Product Design

💰 Spotify Stock 💰

• 3 Reasons to Love Spotify Stock

🔥 Extra News 🔥

• Park Jimin becomes First Korean singer to top Spotify's global ranking, did you see their About Us page

• When Does Spotify Wrapped Start and Stop Tracking?

🎵 New Adventures 🎵

MoneyGrabber Fitz and The Tantrums

Amazona Roxy Music

Champions Of Red Wine The New Pornographers

Late Ben Folds

Put the Message In the Box World Party

I'm Moving On Taste

Love Woke Me Up This Morning Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell

Head Games Foreigner

This Tornado Loves You Neko Case

Summertime Thing Chuck Prophet

Behind Blue Eyes The Who

📧 Get in touch 📧

If you have a question, idea, request, or simply a desire to chat about Spotify, please email me at jeff.spotifynewsletter@gmail.com.

😀 Have a Nice Weekend! 😀