Spotify launches in South Africa, Israel & Vietnam as stock market listing nears

Just weeks out from its public listing on the New York Stock Exchange, Spotify resumes its quest for world domination by rolling out its service in a string of new markets.

The Sweden-originated subscription platform is now open for business in South Africa, Israel and Vietnam, countries with a combined population of about 160 million. In South Africa and Israel, a monthly subscription will cost about US$5, roughly twice the fee for users in Vietnam.

With its latest round of expansion, Spotify is now available in 64 markets. According to its recently-published prospectus, the tech company boasted 159 million monthly active users at the end of 2017, with 71 million of those converted to premium subscriptions.

In related news, Spotify will begin life as a public company in the week of April 2, giving the company less than a month to prepare what is seen as an unusual flotation, according to Bloomberg.

The business won’t actually issue any new shares or raise money in its IPO, rather its existing stakeholders – which include the music majors and Merlin, the independent digital rights agency – can offer their shares to investors, a practice known as a direct listing.  By some estimates, Spotify’s value will reach or even surpass US$20 billion.

As previously reported, the streaming giant has hired Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co as financial advisers and its chief financial officer, who previously guided Netflix through an IPO, will host an online investor day this Thursday (March 15).

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.