iWorld
Spotify’s premium subscribers go up 27% in Q2 reaching 138 mn
KOLKATA: Spotify Technology (Spotify) has added eight million Spotify Premium subscribers globally in Q2 touching 138 million, up by 27 per cent over-year-over. The popular audio streaming service’s monthly active users rose to 299 million, up by 29 per cent.
“Family Plan continues to be a significant driver of our outperformance. This quarter we expanded the availability of both Family Plan and our new Duo offering to new geographies. Following our launch in Russia and 12 surrounding markets on 15 July (post Q2), these multi-user plans are now available in 90+ territories globally. We saw strong subscriber growth across all regions in the quarter and finished ahead of our expectations,” Spotify said in a letter to shareholders.
Ad-supported revenue of $131 million was down both year-over-year and sequentially. Last quarter, Spotify noted a marked deceleration in sales brought on by the global health crisis where the last three weeks in March were down more than 20 per cent relative to the forecast. While the performance continued to lag the company’s expectations through April and May, it significantly outperformed expectations in the month of June.
“We mentioned coming out of Q1 that the last three weeks of Q1were pretty weak and saw some big decline and that continued into April and May. We were actually running behind on the ads business for April and May, probably down about 25 per cent on those two months and then we really had a nice pick up in June. June was only down about 10 per cent on the advertising side,” Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said.
Its podcast segment engagement in general overall is increasing as now 21 per cent of its MAU is engaged with podcasts which is up from 19 per cent and consumption was up over 100 per cent in the quarter.
On the other side, premium revenue grew 17 per cent year over year to $1,758 million. Within Premium, average revenue per user of $4.41 in Q2 was down 9 per cent year-over-year.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
