The Swedish streaming company posted total quarterly revenue of US$1.92 billion and 113 million paid subscribers as of the end of September. Net income attributable to shareholders reached 36 cents per share, compared to analysts’ expectations of a 29-cent loss per share. (Reuters)

Talking point: In a letter to shareholders, Spotify said it was adding about twice as many subscribers a month as Apple Music, that its monthly engagement was about twice as high and its churn rate half that of its rival. The company said reducing artist marketing and R&D costs contributed to the profit. Podcast consumption on Spotify—it acquired Gimlet and Anchor for US$340 million in February—remains a small chunk of its business, with only about 14 per cent of its monthly users listening to them. Increased competition looks to be on its way, however. ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent firm, is creating its own music-streaming platform called Yinyuebang. The move may help TikTok and its domestic version, Douyin, as well, as ByteDance has previously been reluctant to pay the higher royalties required to allow the use of copyrighted music on those short-video platforms.