Spotify has reached a huge milestone: 30 million paying subscribers.
CEO Daniel Ek made the announcement on Twitter Monday, marking the first time Spotify has announced subscriber numbers since last June, when—ahead of the Apple Music launch—Spotify said it had 20 million paying members.
As The Verge notes, while Spotify is still far ahead of its rivals in terms of overall subscriber numbers, the company added 10 million subscribers in roughly the same time frame Apple Music has gained 11 million. Tidal, meanwhile, had about 1 million subscribers as of October, and no doubt saw a boost from its exclusive launch of Kanye West's latest album.
Spotify still has some other major gaps in its music catalog (like most of Taylor Swift's music and the latest albums from Adele and Coldplay), but the streaming service has been busy of late adding new features like fresh machine-driven playlists and integration with Amazon Echo, Facebook Messenger, and new Volvos.
Meanwhile, in his announcement, Ek suggested that Spotify sees potential for growth in a somewhat unlikely place: Cuba. Of those 30 million Spotify subscribers, "none of them are in Cuba ... yet," Ek wrote. "So cool to see Cuba opening up!"
On that topic, Google just yesterday announced it is collaborating with the island nation to expand Internet connectivity. The tech titan is working with Havana's Organic Romerillo Museum to link visitors to the Web via Cardboard virtual reality headsets and Chromebooks.
For more, check out PCMag's feature story Black Markets and Secret Thumb Drives: How Cubans Get Online.