Spotify hits 2.5 million paying subscribers

"Fanfare! Drum roll! Yes, we're excited to announce that we've now welcomed 2.5 million paying subscribers to the service," Spotify said in a blog post.

Spotify, which launched in Europe in 2008 and expanded to the United States in July, did not provide a country-by-country breakdown for subscribers to the music streaming service.

Spotify had 1.6 million paying subscribers in June and much of its recent growth appears to have come from its availability in the United States and an integration with Facebook in September.

Spotify, which boasts a catalog of more than 15 million songs for listening on computers or mobile phones, has more than 10 million registered users.

Spotify has invited reporters to attend a press conference in New York on November 30 with chief executive and co-founder Daniel Ek.

"What's next for Spotify?" the invitation teased without providing further details.

Last week, Spotify expanded to Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.

Spotify offers three services: a free, ad-supported streaming service, an ad-free $4.99 a month plan for computer listening, and a $9.99 a month plan allowing subscribers to download as many songs as they want to a mobile phone.

(c) 2011 AFP