Spotify hits 1m paid subscribers

Spotify has announced that it has reached one million paying subscribers to its streaming music service. The news marks a significant increase in paying users; roughly this time last year, Spotify had 325,000 premium subscriptions. The milestone will likely aid the company in its ongoing – and lengthy – negotiations with US rights-holders as part of attempts to launch Spotify in North America.

Those negotiations have seen Spotify sign deals with EMI and Sony, though the service is still yet to launch. Labels had expressed concerns that Spotify might not get sufficient premium subscriber interest to make the deals worthwhile, demanding significant upfront payments as a result.