Tension had been building throughout the Spotify earnings call last week.
“We’ve now seen a full year of single-digit growth in ad-supported constant currency, while competition is reporting faster growth rates. Is the advertising business really core to Spotify?”
“Of course it is, otherwise we wouldn’t be in it,” Alex Norström snapped back.
Despite the frustration from both sides, Spotify’s numbers were strong. Elsewhere, other streamers had a good print, too. Meta continues to crush. Peacock reduced losses, and Paramount+ is preparing to enter a new era (it also just paid $300M for South Park; the backstory below).
Before Q2 earnings season started, I wondered whether streamers would beat the $6B they collectively booked in profits in Q1. And what percentage of that profit bounty would go to Netflix.
With 6 out of 7 having reported, we’re already at...