Spotify to Reportedly Go Public as a Direct Listing on NYSE in 2018

Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, CNBC is reporting that Spotify is expected to go public as a direct listing on the NYSE between Q4 2017 and Q1 2018. Sources also claim that the music streaming service is valued at $13 billion, and that Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Allen & Co. are advising on the listing. 

Spotify

For those who don’t know the difference between and IPO and a direct listing, the company offers investors shares before it goes public during an IPO, which allows underwriters to set an initial share price. A direct listing however only allows investors to buy shares through the open market, and no price is predetermined.

Spotify, which currently employs 3,000 people, has over 50 million subscribers and a 43% growth rate in revenue. Although the Swedish-born service has helped pioneer the current on-demand music streaming market, its main competitor Apple Music has shown impressive growth in subscribers since its inception, garnering nearly half the number of Spotify’s paying users since it went live in June of 2015.

Last month, Spotify announced the launch of Spotify Premium for Students, which included Canada and 32 other countries, offering a discount of 50% off, for “every year of their student life”. Apple Music also launched student pricing in Canada last November, which is priced at $4.99 per month.

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