How many paying subscribers did Spotify have at its 2018 direct listing?

Spotify had 71 million paying subscribers around its 2018 direct listing.

More precisely, Spotify reported 71 million Premium Subscribers as of December 31, 2017, in the registration documents filed ahead of its New York Stock Exchange debut. The figure was widely used to describe the company’s scale as it prepared to become publicly traded in 2018.

Spotify listed on April 3, 2018, using a direct listing rather than a conventional initial public offering. That meant existing shareholders could sell shares directly on the exchange, while Spotify did not issue new shares to raise fresh capital in the usual IPO process. The company opened at $165.90, above its reference price of $132.

The question’s wording can cause confusion because subscriber figures changed rapidly during the listing period, and reports sometimes rounded 71 million to 70 million. The canonical figure in Spotify’s filing was 71 million Premium Subscribers, while its total monthly active user base was 157 million.