A Little Knowledge... #99

Welcome to A Little Knowledge #99 – our free weekly LinkedIn newsletter!

This is only a glimpse into this week's Knowledge – subscribe to the full newsletter for FREE, and every Friday it’ll land in your inbox.

???BULLETIN NEWS: Spotify reports €1.37bn operating profit for 2024

Following its?announcement last month that?it?paid out $10bn to the music industry?in 2024, streaming service Spotify released its latest financial results this week - with strong growth in operating profit and new user growth:

• It ended 2024 with 675 million monthly active users, including 263 million subscribers
• Growth in both categories fuelled the company’s move out of the red:?it reported an operating profit for the full year of €1.37bn, compared to an operating loss of €446m in 2023.
• During 2024 Spotify added 73 million net new users, including a quarterly record of 35 million in Q4 alone.
• Meanwhile, the company’s premium subscribers grew by 27 million last year, including 11 million net additions in the final quarter of the year.

?? Read more in our full article?here.?

?

?

???EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:?Johnny Marr talks mentorship, musicians and venue closures

It’s perhaps a little frustrating being Johnny Marr:?the legacy of his earliest work as guitarist and songwriter in The Smiths looms large over everything he has done since.?But Marr - who we spoke to this week -?is much more than that.

• He has been seeking new experiences ever since, and his?career has seen him work with The Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, and Bryan Ferry?
• With this breadth of experience, Marr is perhaps an ideal mentor for young artists – and now he’s doing exactly that.
• In partnership with?Epidemic Sound’s collaboration program,?The Bridge, Marr is mentoring three emerging songwriters during 2025 – guitarist?Rebecca Mardal, multi-instrumentalist?Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen, and?the cross-genre artist?Kylie Dailey.?
• He kicked the year of mentorship off with a group session this week, and we chatted to Marr afterwards about his experiences from the day, his thoughts on the pressures on aspiring artists, the struggling grassroots live scene, and more.

?? Read the interview in full?here.

?

?? A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA...

Our daily Bulletin newsletter is loved by subscribers for its instant industry analysis - but secretly, the part they like most is the ‘A Little Something Extra’ section at the bottom of the email. Here's a few of the best recent links:

• Want some advice from your future, wiser self??Future You?aims to provide it (although your future, wiser self might advise you to check the privacy policy of any service like this first, of course...)
• If you use Google’s Waze satnav app,?Paddington Bear can now be your guide. And not just in Peru.
• Black and white case: badger?admiring a graffiti version of itself wins public vote for?wildlife photographer of the year.

?? MUSIC ALLY?CO-LABS:?How to Meet Your Music Goals with Campaign Kit

Music goals come in all shapes and sizes – from attracting new fans with a debut album to deepening connections with long-time listeners ahead of a tour. That’s where?Campaign Kit?comes in.

• With tools like playlist pitching, Discovery Mode, Marquee, and Showcase, Campaign Kit is designed to help you turn any listeners into “super listeners” – aka your most engaged fans from the past 28 days who come back to your music time and time again.
• Purpose-built to achieve three audience goals — growth, reactivation, and engagement — Campaign Kit helps to create and nurture loyal fans.?

Read more about Campaign Kit in our article, made in collaboration with Spotify for Artists,?here.

More info on?Music Ally?Co-Labs.

?? MUSIC ALLY JOBS

The latest and best jobs for the global music business, trusted by both top music industry companies and experienced professionals on top of their game.

Are you looking for a job? Click here to see the full list of vacancies!

This is only a glimpse into this week's The Knowledge newsletter – subscribe for FREE and every Friday it’ll arrive in your inbox with:

• ?? Highlights from our latest COUNTRY PROFILE REPORTS;
• ?? ?? Some great and/or strange music in SOMETHING 4 THE WEEKEND;
• ?? A look back in TIME MACHINE;
• ?? The Music Ally Focus PODCAST;
• and ?? more links to our favourite unusual stuff in A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA.