- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ |
Spotify shares fall on worries over slowing growth amid Rogan row
Shares of Spotify tumbled Wednesday after the music streaming service -- roiled in controversy over its star podcaster Joe Rogan -- projected lower profit margins in the coming earnings period as subscriber growth slows.
The company reported solid increases in the fourth quarter in terms of monthly active users and 180 million premium subscribers, in line with earlier forecasts.
But the streaming service forecast its first quarter 2022 gross profit margin would fall to 25 percent from 26.5 percent. And it projected adding just three million premium subscribers in that period, a marked slowdown from recent quarters.
Over the last week, Spotify has been hit with the defection of several music superstars including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell over its handling of Rogan's controversial statements on Covid-19 vaccines.
Executives nevertheless touted the platform's long-term growth potential and broadly defended their handling of the Rogan controversy, adding that it was too soon to know how it would affect the company's financial performance.
Spotify's shares fell 10.9 percent to $171.00 in after-hours trading.
The stock has fallen sharply steeply over the last year, along with other "stay-at-home" stocks that benefited from the disruptions to daily life caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company reported a quarterly loss of 39 million euros ($44.1 million) as revenues increased 24 percent to 2.7 billion euros.
Spotify pointed to "continued momentum in our subscription business and meaningful advertising results," adding that "we see a tremendous amount of greenfield on the horizon."
Spotify's press release made no mention of the Rogan controversy, while emphasizing that consumption trends on the podcasting platform "remained strong."
- Too early to gauge impact -
On Sunday, Chief Executive Daniel Ek announced that Spotify would add a content advisory to any podcast that discusses Covid-19, directing users to government health authorities and other trusted sources.
The move followed criticism from Young and other artists who left the platform after a call from medical professionals to prevent Rogan from promoting "several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines."
On Wednesday, Young's former bandmates from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young said they had asked their labels to remove their recordings from Spotify.
Ek addressed the matter in opening remarks and again in response to repeated questions from analysts.
While saying Spotify could have articulated its policy sooner, Ek said he was pleased with how the company responded.
"We're trying to balance creative expression with the safety of our users," Ek said.
"We don't change our policies based on one creator nor do we change it based on any media cycle, or call from anyone else," he said.
"Our policies have been carefully written with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space."
Ek said it was "too early" to gauge the impact of the Rogan controversy on his business, adding "usually when we've had controversies in the past, those are measured in months and not days."
P.Anderson--BTB