Photo: Spotify
According to newly revealed statistics, Spotify is now worth more than the entire US recorded music industry earns.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the online streaming service has just secured $400 million of new funding from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund. Spotify's new estimated valuation after these deals is $8.4 billion.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America meanwhile, the revenue of the entire industry as of 2014 was $6.97 billion, which accounts for physical sales, digital purchases and streaming.
Though Spotify streaming contributes to that number (overall streaming income accounts for 27% of the industry's earnings), the actual company is worth more than every single US retail music revenue source combined.
As Billboard points out, the story is a little more complicated than it seems, because one refers to value (Spotify's $8.4 billion) and the other revenue (RIAA's $6.7 billion) - but it makes for interesting reading nonetheless.
