Spotify Technology SA (SPOT) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Krista, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Spotify First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

感謝您的支持。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Spotify 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謝謝。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Bryan Goldberg, Head of Investor Relations at Spotify. Bryan, you may begin.

現在，我想將會議交給 Spotify 投資者關係主管 Bryan Goldberg。布萊恩，你可以開始啦。

Thanks, operator, and welcome to Spotify's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today will be Daniel Ek, our CEO; and Ben Kung, our Interim CFO and VP of Financial Planning and Analysis.

謝謝接線員，歡迎參加 Spotify 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我們一起參加的是我們的執行長 Daniel Ek；以及我們的臨時財務長兼財務規劃和分析副總裁 Ben Kung。

We'll start with opening comments from Daniel and Ben, and afterwards, we'll be happy to answer your questions. Questions can be submitted by going to slido.com, s-l-i-d-o.com, and using the code #SpotifyEarningsQ124. Analysts can ask questions directly into Slido, and all participants can then vote on the questions they find the most relevant. If, for some reason, you don't have access to Slido, you can e-mail Investor Relations at ir@spotify.com, and we'll add in your question.

我們將首先聽取 Daniel 和 Ben 的開場評論，然後我們很樂意回答您的問題。您可以透過造訪 slido.com、s-l-i-d-o.com 並使用代碼 #SpotifyEarningsQ124 來提交問題。分析師可以直接向 Slido 提出問題，然後所有參與者都可以對他們認為最相關的問題進行投票。如果您因為某些原因無法造訪 Slido，您可以發送電子郵件至投資者關係部 ir@spotify.com，我們會添加您的問題。

Before we begin, let me quickly cover the safe harbor. During this call, we'll be making certain forward-looking statements, including projections or estimates about the future performance of the company. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ because of factors discussed on today's call, in our shareholder deck and in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始之前，讓我先快速介紹一下安全港。在本次電話會議中，我們將做出某些前瞻性陳述，包括對公司未來績效的預測或估計。這些聲明是基於當前的預期和假設，但存在風險和不確定性。由於今天的電話會議、股東大會以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中討論的因素，實際結果可能會存在重大差異。

During this call, we'll also refer to certain non-IFRS financial measures. Reconciliations between our IFRS and non-IFRS financial measures can be found in our shareholder deck, in the Financials section of our Investor Relations website and also furnished today on Form 6-K.

在本次電話會議中，我們也會參考某些非國際財務報告準則的財務指標。我們的 IFRS 和非 IFRS 財務指標之間的對帳表可在我們的股東概覽、投資者關係網站的財務部分中找到，也可在今天的 6-K 表格中找到。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Daniel.

現在，我將把話題交給丹尼爾。

All right. Thanks, Bryan, and hey, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I hope you've had the opportunity to review our shareholder deck.

好的。謝謝，布萊恩，大家好，謝謝你們加入我們。我希望您有機會審閱我們的股東簡報。

Overall, this was a solid quarter driven by strong revenue growth, expanding gross margin and the largest operating income we've ever posted. Our performance speaks to what I covered last quarter when I described our outlook for 2024: a year of solid progress with monetization and resourcefulness taking center stage.

總體而言，這是一個穩健的季度，得益於強勁的收入成長、不斷擴大的毛利率以及我們有史以來最高的營業收入。我們的表現證明了我上個季度描述 2024 年展望時所說的內容：這是穩步前進的一年，貨幣化和資源豐富性佔據中心位置。

But let's discuss our MAU growth this quarter. We missed our target due to a bit of a slowdown at the start of the year. So I want to directly address the 3 main factors contributing to this outcome and how we're adjusting over the next few quarters.

但讓我們討論一下本季的 MAU 成長情況。由於年初經濟略有放緩，我們未能實現目標。因此，我想直接談談導致這種結果的三個主​​要因素以及我們在接下來的幾季如何進行調整。

First, the MAU and subscription growth we achieved in 2023 not only surpassed our most ambitious forecast but also set a record for the most significant user growth in Spotify's history. While we anticipate continued robust growth going forward, 2023 was a truly standout year and should not be a base on expectation for every subsequent year.

首先，我們在 2023 年實現的 MAU 和訂閱量成長不僅超出了我們最雄心勃勃的預測，而且創下了 Spotify 歷史上最顯著的用戶成長記錄。雖然我們預計未來將繼續強勁成長，但 2023 年是真正出類拔萃的一年，不應成為後續每一年的預期基礎。

Another significant challenge was the impact of our December workforce reduction. Although there's no question that it was the right strategic decision, it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipate. It took us some time to find our footing, but more than 4 months into this transition, I think we're back on track. I expect to continue improving our execution throughout the year, getting us to an even better place than we've ever been.

另一個重大挑戰是我們12月份裁員的影響。儘管毫無疑問這是正確的策略決策，但它對我們的日常營運造成的擾亂確實超出了我們的預期。我們花了一些時間來站穩腳跟，但經過 4 個多月的轉型，我想我們已經回到正軌。我希望全年繼續提高我們的執行力，使我們達到比以往更好的水平。

The third issue is related to marketing spend. In hindsight, we probably pulled back too significantly throughout 2023. And as such, we're already correcting this as we move into Q2. To be clear, we're not going to go back to what we were doing before. We still continue to expect improving profitability over the course of this year and into the next. Any new funds are being directed towards acquiring and reactivating high-value users who enhance our base with their deeper engagement and loyalty. We expect to see good improvements in the second half of this year and are confident in our ability to deliver top-of-the-funnel growth at consistently high levels, maintaining our proven track record.

第三個問題與行銷支出有關。回想起來，我們可能在 2023 年全年回檔幅度過大。需要明確的是，我們不會重複以前的所作所為。我們仍然預計今年和明年獲利能力將會提高。任何新資金都將用於獲取和重新激活高價值用戶，這些用戶將透過更深入的參與和忠誠度來增強我們的基礎。我們預計今年下半年將出現良好改善，並且有信心我們能夠持續實現高水準成長，並保持我們良好的業績記錄。

So how do we expect this to impact our business in the coming months? Well, at Spotify, we don't rely on a single growth strategy but, rather, adjust our focus based on what the business demands. For instance, 2 years ago, we really concentrated on our user growth. Then last year, we restructured our costs, and now we're focused on accelerating revenue while improving our bottom line. Next year, our focus may return to top-of-the-funnel user growth, but in the near term, monetization remains our top priority.

那麼我們預計這會對我們未來幾個月的業務產生什麼影響？在 Spotify，我們不依賴單一的成長策略，而是根據業務需求調整我們的重點。例如，兩年前，我們真正專注於用戶成長。去年，我們重組了成本，現在我們專注於加速收入，同時提高我們的底線。明年，我們的重點可能會回到漏斗頂端的用戶成長上，但短期內，貨幣化仍然是我們的首要任務。

Bottom line, we are really good at pivoting our attention when it makes sense. When I say pivot, I really mean making tweaks that will get us to an even better outcome. And because of our ability to do this, I have no doubt that we will be able to recapture top-of-the-funnel growth over time as it becomes more of a focus area for the team.

總而言之，當有必要時，我們確實善於轉移我們的注意力。當我說轉變時，我真正的意思是進行一些調整，以便獲得更好的結果。而且由於我們有能力做到這一點，我毫不懷疑，隨著時間的推移，我們將能夠重新獲得漏斗頂端的成長，因為它將成為團隊更加關注的領域。

And before I turn it over to Ben to provide more detail into the numbers, I also want to mention our new CFO, Christian Luiga. I've worked with Christian directly, and I can tell you firsthand that he's a terrific leader and excels at driving both operational efficiency and growth. He has an impressive track record, and his expertise will be incredibly valuable as we continue on this path. I look forward to you getting to know him when he joins later this year, but I also want to extend a huge thank you to Ben for stepping into the role of Interim CFO and helping to ensure a smooth transition.

在我將電話轉給 Ben 提供更多數位細節之前，我還想提一下我們的新任財務長 Christian Luiga。我曾與克里斯蒂安直接合作過，我可以直接告訴你，他是一位出色的領導者，擅長推動營運效率和成長。他的表現令人印象深刻，他的專業知識在我們繼續走這條道路的過程中將發揮極其寶貴的作用。我期待著您在今年晚些時候加入時認識他，但我也要向本表示衷心的感謝，感謝他擔任臨時財務長並幫助確保順利過渡。

Thanks, Daniel, and thanks, everyone, for joining us. I'd like to add a bit more color on the quarter and then touch upon the broader performance of the business and our outlook.

謝謝丹尼爾，也謝謝大家加入我們。我想對本季的情況做一點補充，然後談談業務的整體表現和我們的展望。

Q1 marked a strong start to the year, led by accelerating revenue growth and record-setting profitability as our focus on monetization and efficiency have begun flowing through our financials. Although MAU variability was greater than expected, our funnel continued to expand at a reasonably healthy rate within the context of the last few years as total MAU grew 19% year-on-year in Q1, coming off of 2023's record performance, while quarter-on-quarter net additions of 13 million were in line with 2021 and 2022 levels.

第一季標誌著今年的一個強勁開局，主要得益於我們對貨幣化和效率的關注開始貫穿我們的財務狀況，收入增長加速，盈利能力創下歷史新高。儘管 MAU 的變化大於預期，但在過去幾年的背景下，我們的管道繼續以合理健康的速度擴張，因為第一季總 MAU 同比增長 19%，創下了 2023 年的創紀錄表現，而季度環比淨新增 1300 萬，與 2021 年和 2022 年的水平一致。

On the subscription front, the business grew in line with our guidance, adding 3 million net new subscribers. Total revenue grew 21% year-on-year on a constant currency basis to EUR 3.6 billion, representing 100 basis points of growth improvement relative to Q4. Notably, our recent price increases and improving product mix shift accelerated Premium ARPU growth to 7% year-on-year on a currency-neutral basis while our advertising business saw improved currency-neutral growth of 19% year-on-year versus Q4's 17%.

在訂閱方面，業務成長符合我們的預期，新增 300 萬淨訂閱用戶。以固定匯率計算，總營收年增 21% 至 36 億歐元，較第四季提高 100 個基點。值得注意的是，我們近期的價格上漲和產品結構調整推動優質 ARPU 成長至同比增長 7%（以貨幣中性計算），而我們的廣告業務則實現同比增長 19%，而第四季度為 17%。

Moving to profitability. We are very encouraged by the business' early-stage inflection towards the targets we laid out for you at our 2022 Investor Day. Gross margin came in at a Q1 record of 27.6%, surpassing guidance by 121 basis points and resulting in our first ever EUR 1 billion-plus gross profit quarter. As you're well aware, there are many components that can move our gross margin, and Q1 performance was primarily driven by content cost favorability among other smaller movements.

轉向盈利。我們對公司在 2022 年投資者日為您設定的目標的早期轉變感到非常鼓舞。第一季毛利率達到創紀錄的 27.6%，超出預期 121 個基點，並實現我們有史以來第一個季度毛利超過 10 億歐元。眾所周知，有許多因素都會影響我們的毛利率，而第一季的業績主要是受到內容成本有利性以及其他較小的變動所推動。

Operating income of EUR 168 million also set a new record, aided by gross profit strength and lower operating expenses. Operating income was impacted by EUR 82 million in social charge accruals, which were EUR 74 million higher than our forecast, driven by share price appreciation during the quarter. As a reminder, we don't forecast share price movements in our outlook for the business since they are outside of our control.

由於毛利的強勁成長和營業費用的降低，1.68 億歐元的營業收入也創下了新紀錄。營業收入受到8,200萬歐元社會費用應計的影響，比我們的預測高出7,400萬歐元，原因是本季股價上漲。提醒一下，我們不會在業務展望中預測股價走勢，因為這超出了我們的控制範圍。

Finally, free cash flow was a positive EUR 207 million in the quarter. Performance here reflected the expected reversal of some of the timing benefits we saw in Q4. We remain confident that we've entered a new chapter in terms of expanding the business' cash generation potential.

最後，本季自由現金流為正 2.07 億歐元。這裡的表現反映了我們在第四季看到的一些時機優勢的預期逆轉。我們仍然相信，我們在擴大業務現金創造潛力方面已經進入了新篇章。

Looking ahead to second quarter guidance, we are forecasting 631 million MAU, an increase of 16 million from Q1; and 245 million subscribers, an increase of 6 million over Q1. We are also forecasting a currency-neutral revenue growth rate of over 22% year-on-year, pointing to EUR 3.8 billion in total revenue. We also anticipate a gross margin of 28.1% and an operating income of EUR 250 million.

展望第二季度，我們預測 MAU 為 6.31 億，較第一季增加 1,600 萬；訂閱用戶數達 2.45 億，較第一季增加 600 萬。我們也預測，扣除匯率因素，營收成長率將超過 22%，總收入將達到 38 億歐元。我們也預期毛利率為28.1%，營業收入為2.5億歐元。

In terms of our user growth outlook, as Daniel mentioned, we've made some adjustments to further optimize our marketing activity and expect improving MAU net add levels over the course of the year. With respect to price increases and subscriber growth in Q2, our data shows that historical price increases have had minimal impacts on growth. However, much like Q3 of last year, we are baking in some modest levels of churn into our Q2 outlook.

就我們的用戶成長前景而言，正如丹尼爾所提到的，我們已經做出了一些調整，以進一步優化我們的行銷活動，並預計今年的 MAU 淨增量水準將有所提高。關於第二季的價格上漲和用戶成長，我們的數據顯示，歷史價格上漲對成長的影響微乎其微。然而，與去年第三季的情況非常相似，我們在第二季的展望中考慮了一些適度的客戶流失。

Additionally, we anticipate another quarter of sequential improvement in ARPU growth on a constant currency basis in Q2, similar to the 200 basis points of improvement we saw from Q4 to Q1. From a profitability standpoint, we continue to expect a sequential ramp in gross margin through the balance of 2024 as well as improvements in operating income and operating margin.

此外，我們預計第二季 ARPU 成長將以固定匯率計算再度提高，與第四季相比第一季提高 200 個基點的水平相當。從獲利能力的角度來看，我們預計到 2024 年，毛利率將繼續連續上升，並且營業收入和營業利潤率也將提高。

With that, I'll hand things back to Bryan for Q&A.

說完這些，我將把問題交還給 Bryan 進行問答。

All right. Thanks, Ben. And again, if you've got any questions, please go to slido.com, #SpotifyEarningsQ124. We'll be reading the questions in the order they appear in the queue with respect to how people vote up their preference for questions.

好的。謝謝，本。再次強調，如果您有任何疑問，請造訪 slido.com，#SpotifyEarningsQ124。我們將按照問題在隊列中出現的順序閱讀問題，並根據人們對問題的偏好進行投票。

And our first question today is going to come from Agnieszka Pustula on music profitability. Can you please give us some detail on the improved music profitability in the quarter? Which Marketplace product was the key driver behind better margins? And how much of extra cost did Audiobooks add?

今天我們的第一個問題來自 Agnieszka Pustula 關於音樂獲利能力的問題。您能否向我們詳細介紹本季音樂獲利能力的提升？哪種 Marketplace 產品是提高利潤的關鍵驅動因素？有聲書增加了多少額外費用？

All right. I'll start, and maybe, Ben, you can add to the answer.

好的。我先開始，也許，本，你可以補充答案。

So I think maybe to up-level the answer a little bit and talk about gross margin in general, this was a real outperformance on many levels, and there were many things that contributed to that. So you mentioned Marketplace. Marketplace did really well in the quarter, and it continues to have great position on really all of our Marketplace products growing nicely. So I feel really good about Marketplace, and that was a big contributor.

因此，我認為也許應該把答案提高一點，談談整體毛利率，這在許多層面上都是真正的優異表現，有很多因素促成了這一點。所以你提到了市場。本季度，市場表現非常出色，並且繼續在我們所有的市場產品中保持良好成長勢頭。所以我對 Marketplace 感到非常滿意，這是一個很大的貢獻者。

In addition to that, obviously, on the gross margin side, we saw lower nonmusic costs. Some of that was aided by both our Audiobooks side but also on the podcasting side. Last year, if you remember, that was a bit of a drag on our gross margin. And this year, we expect profitability for the podcast segment. So that's adding to that.

除此之外，顯然在毛利率方面，非音樂成本有所下降。這在一定程度上得益於我們的有聲書方面以及播客方面的幫助。如果你還記得的話，去年這對我們的毛利率造成了一些拖累。今年，我們預計播客領域將實現盈利。所以這就是補充內容。

Also, you saw lower streaming delivery cost and overall cost and sort of other cost of revenues due to some of that sort of resourcefulness and that culture. So I think from my side, it is really a new Spotify you're seeing where we are being relentlessly and resourceful on all of our costs and in driving improvements in efficiency on all our different drivers that are adding up to this gross margin number.

此外，由於這種足智多謀和文化，您還會看到串流媒體傳輸成本、總體成本和其他收入成本降低。所以我認為，從我的角度來看，這確實是一個全新的 Spotify，我們正在不懈地、足智多謀地控制所有成本，並提高所有不同驅動因素的效率，這些都增加了毛利率。

Yes. I think you covered it well, Daniel. I think I would just add that, that resourcefulness that you highlight is spanning a diversified set of levers that are all adding up to this narrative. So I think it's really sort of firing across many cylinders for our business.

是的。我認為你已經闡述得很好了，丹尼爾。我想補充一點，你所強調的足智多謀涵蓋了多種槓桿，這些槓桿都構成了這個敘述。所以我認為這對我們的業務來說確實是一種多方面的推動。

All right. Our second question is also going to come from Agnieszka, this time on royalties. For the bundled music and audiobook plans, are royalty payments for each category based on a fixed allocation of relative value of music versus audiobook plans? Or is it based on the actual share of consumption, i.e., would increased audiobook consumption reduce music royalty?

好的。我們的第二個問題也來自阿格涅什卡，這次是關於版稅。對於捆綁的音樂和有聲讀物計劃，每個類別的版稅支付是否基於音樂與有聲讀物計劃的相對價值的固定分配？還是基於實際的消費份額，即增加有聲書的消費是否會降低音樂版稅？

Thanks. I'll take this one. I think this is a great question. We won't be able to get into the specifics here, but I think you are touching upon a very important point that I'll try to up-level towards.

謝謝。我要這個。我認為這是一個很好的問題。我們無法在這裡討論具體細節，但我認為你觸及了一個非常重要的點，我會嘗試提升這個點。

It's a fairly complex machine across our content types, and we do have a concept that I'll refer to as shifting profit pools now. So across our content types, we have all types of cost models. We've got variable ones, so that could be anything from revenue shares, per user models, per hour models. We also have fixed cost models. It's a fairly complex machine, and the concept of bundling things together allows us to tap into a strength of ours, which is leaning into this complexity across profit pools and managing it efficiently as we look to meet and serve customer demands where we see it. So I think it's as simple as that.

它是一台涵蓋我們各種內容類型的相當複雜的機器，我們有一個概念，我稱之為轉移利潤池。因此，在我們的內容類型中，我們擁有各種類型的成本模型。我們有變量，因此可以是任何內容，包括收入份額、每個用戶模型、每小時模型。我們也有固定成本模型。這是一個相當複雜的機器，將各種事物捆綁在一起的概念使我們能夠發揮自己的優勢，即在利潤池中利用這種複雜性，並對其進行有效管理，以滿足並滿足客戶的需求。我認為就這麼簡單。

All right. Our next question is going to come from Justin Patterson on capital allocation. Daniel, the balance sheet is in a solid position, and you could be approaching over EUR 2 billion in free cash flow in 2025. Given this, how will you and incoming CFO, Christian Luiga, look to reevaluate your capital allocation policy?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自賈斯汀·帕特森關於資本配置的問題。丹尼爾，資產負債表狀況良好，到 2025 年，您的自由現金流可能會超過 20 億歐元。

Yes. I do appreciate the question, Justin, and it's certainly a new type of problem for Spotify to be dealing with. I think it's a little bit too early to draw any sort of real decisions yet on our side. And obviously, Christian hasn't started yet, but this will be on this table to look at and to work with myself and the Board around what we do.

是的。賈斯汀，我非常感謝你的提問，這對 Spotify 來說無疑是一個需要處理的新問題。我認為現在做出任何真正的決定還為時過早。顯然，克里斯蒂安還沒有開始，但我們會把這個議題擺到桌面上來討論，並與我本人和董事會一起商討如何開展工作。

I do want to note to investors, though, that we do have the upcoming convert. So that's certainly one use of capital we could use into the future. But we have many, many tools at our disposal. So we look forward to discussing those as the year progresses.

不過，我確實想向投資人指出，我們確實有即將到來的轉換。所以這肯定是我們未來可以利用的資本的用途。但我們有許多可用的工具。因此，我們期待在未來的討論中討論這些問題。

All right. And a follow-up question from Justin, this time on product. Daniel, you appear to be shipping product at a faster rate. How do you view this as sustaining the 20% plus revenue growth rate over time? And do you believe the improved product capabilities can make you less reliant on marketing over time?

好的。賈斯汀接下來提出了一個問題，這次是關於產品的。丹尼爾，你運送產品的速度似乎更快了。您如何看待這現像以實現長期持續 20% 以上的收入成長率？您是否相信，隨著時間的推移，產品功能的改進可以讓您減少對行銷的依賴？

Yes. I mean you're exactly right, Justin. We are focused on shipping more product and better product for consumers. And the way you should think about this as investors is the better we can improve the product, the more people engage with our product and the more value we ultimately create. And the more value we create, the more ability we will have to then capture some of that value by price increases.

是的。我的意思是，賈斯汀，你說得完全正確。我們專注於為消費者提供更多、更好的產品。身為投資者，你們應該這樣想：我們越能改進產品，使用我們產品的人就越多，我們最終創造的價值就越多。我們創造的價值越多，我們透過提高價格來獲取部分價值的能力就越強。

So I've mentioned this concept before, but we're really, really focused, as a company, on this value-to-price ratio. And the way we're thinking about it is we're constantly trying to improve the value we offer to consumers. And every now and then, we look at that sort of value-to-price ratio and try to capture some of that value through price increases. And when we do, not only Spotify benefits, but the entire creative ecosystem benefits, too. And that's obviously everything from artists and songwriters to authors and podcasters now that are part of this strength or this bundle, so to speak, where everyone sort of all -- the rising tide helps all boats, so to speak.

我之前提到過這個概念，但作為一家公司，我們非常非常注重價值價格比。我們的想法是，我們一直在努力提高我們為消費者提供的價值。我們不時會關注這種價值與價格比，並試圖透過提高價格來獲取部分價值。當我們這樣做時，受益的不僅是 Spotify，整個創意生態系統也會受益。顯然，從藝術家、詞曲作者到作家和播客，現在所有人都是這種力量或這個集合的一部分，可以這麼說，每個人都是——可以說是水漲船高。

So long term, you should definitely say that the better the product is, of course, the less reliant we will be on marketing because the more viral the product will be and, of course, the less we have to reactivate consumers to come back to the service as well.

因此從長遠來看，你肯定會說，產品越好，我們對行銷的依賴就越少，因為產品的病毒式傳播能力就越強，當然，我們就越不需要重新激活消費者來使用我們的服務。

All right. Our next question is going to come from Rich Greenfield on Audiobooks. There's been speculation that you will launch a premium tier that excludes Audiobooks for $10.99 while the Audiobooks goes to $11.99. I'm curious if that's needed to improve the cost structure of your audiobook offering. Could you help us understand the margin profile of the Audiobooks business?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自 Rich Greenfield 關於有聲書的問題。有猜測稱，您將推出一個高級套餐，其中不包含有聲讀物的價格為 10.99 美元，而包含有聲讀物的價格則為 11.99 美元。我很好奇，這是否有助於改善有聲書產品的成本結構。您能幫助我們了解有聲書業務的利潤狀況嗎？

Yes, I'll start here, and maybe Ben can add.

是的，我將從這裡開始，也許本來可以補充。

So Rich, I think my sort of last answer kind of captures this. What we're focused on at Spotify is really we're trying to improve as much value as we can. And over the course now of the last 2 years, we've added a tremendous amount of value. We've added, of course, more and more podcasts than ever before, millions of podcasts now. We have a library of over 100 million music tracks now onto the service. We've added Audiobooks in many markets. More than 25% of our base are now using that.

所以 Rich，我認為我最後的回答已經抓住了這一點。我們在 Spotify 上關注的重點實際上是試圖盡可能地提高價值。在過去的兩年裡，我們增加了巨大的價值。當然，我們新增的播客比以前更多了，現在已有數百萬個播客。我們的音樂庫現已包含超過 1 億首音樂曲目。我們在許多市場都增加了有聲書。目前，我們的基地中有超過 25% 的人正在使用它。

And two, I think I saw something online where you were talking about whether or not people were engaging of that 25% of users. While we -- in the first 14 days of new users using Audiobooks, we see over 2.5 hours of incremental usage on the audiobook side. So we're seeing some great results. And of course, we've added video to both on the music side but also on the podcasting side. So we're adding a tremendous amount of value over the course really of this last 2 years on the service and more and more product features like AI DJ, daylist and so on.

第二，我想我在網路上看到過一些內容，你正在討論人們是否參與了那 25％ 的用戶。同時我們在新用戶使用有聲書的前 14 天裡，看到有聲書的使用時間增加了超過 2.5 小時。因此我們看到了一些很好的結果。當然，我們在音樂方面和播客方面都添加了影片。因此，我們在過去兩年中為該服務增加了大量價值，並推出了越來越多的產品功能，例如 AI DJ、日程表等。

So we're adding more value across the base, and we're focused on capturing some of that value we've been adding over the past 2 years by increasing the price. And obviously, you're mentioning the U.S. numbers, but in many territories, we have been doing even more price increases. Sometimes that's due to local dynamics. Sometimes that's also due to inflation and other things that are contributing, too.

因此，我們在整個基礎上增加了更多價值，並且我們專注於透過提高價格來獲取過去兩年來增加的部分價值。顯然，您提到的是美國的數據，但在許多地區，我們的價格上漲幅度甚至更大。有時這是由於局部動態所致。有時，這也是由於通貨膨脹和其他因素造成的。

So it's really a mix of many different things that we're considering as we're raising prices. But the main one, if I want to focus on one, it's really around value-to-price ratio and keeping that very healthy where we're obviously offering a lot more value to consumers than what we're capturing through the price increases. But I feel really good about us doing that. And that's also why you saw us having a healthy guidance on the subs number too because we think consumers like what they're seeing from Spotify, they love the offering, and they feel that the value that they're getting is more than fair.

所以，我們在提高價格時實際上考慮了很多不同因素。但如果我要專注於一個問題，那就是性價比，並保持健康的性價比，我們顯然為消費者提供的價值遠遠超過我們透過漲價所獲得的價值。但我對我們這樣做感到非常高興。這也是為什麼您會看到我們對訂閱用戶數量有健康的預期，因為我們認為消費者喜歡 Spotify 提供的內容，他們喜歡我們提供的服務，並且他們認為他們獲得的價值是公平的。

All right. Our next question is going to come from Doug Anmuth on MAU. Can you talk more about the greater MAU variability you saw in the first quarter? Was moderated marketing activity as expected? Or were campaigns less effective at the top of the funnel? And does organizational change just reflect increased discipline and higher LTV to SAC thresholds? Where is that ratio versus historical levels?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自 Doug Anmuth 關於 MAU 的問題。能否詳細談談第一季看到的 MAU 變化是否較大？適度的行銷活動是否符合預期？還是說在漏斗頂端的行銷活動效果較差？組織變革是否僅僅反映了紀律性的加強和 LTV 與 SAC 門檻的提高？與歷史水準相比，該比率如何？

Absolutely. I'll take that. And I'll start with it, and maybe Daniel, you could add if you have any other thoughts.

絕對地。我接受。我先從這個開始，丹尼爾，如果你還有其他想法，也可以補充。

I think it's important to first start my answer here with just a bit of look-back context. So we started honing in on marketing efficiency as we entered 2023, so more than a year ago. And when we began pulling back on spend last year, we had other tailwinds working for us that more than counteracted this and drove the record year for us. So these included product changes and innovations that we made as well as benefits on the competition side, with certain competitors sort of exiting different markets. We also had a super strong end-of-year effort with activities such as Wrapped and our campaigns around the holiday and the New Year period. So all these things sort of contributed to what otherwise was observed as the variability on Q1.

我認為首先在這裡回顧一下背景是很重要的。因此，我們從 2023 年就開始專注於提高行銷效率，這已經是一年多前的事了。當我們去年開始削減開支時，其他有利因素不僅抵消了我們的削減開支，還推動我們創造了創紀錄的一年。因此，這些包括我們所做的產品變化和創新以及競爭方面的優勢，某些競爭對手退出了不同的市場。我們也透過「Wrapped」等活動以及圍繞假期和新年期間的活動進行了非常有力的年底宣傳。因此，所有這些因素都對 Q1 的變異性產生了影響。

That said, we've had some great learnings and insights from this performance. Notably, as we've talked about, sort of as Daniel mentioned, thinking about sort of our marketing spend and how we calibrate that. I think you're right to call out that we are very focused on sort of a high LTV-to-CAC threshold, but we also want to make sure that we're sort of capturing all of the opportunity under sort of the investment curve that we have in different markets. And I think it's important to sort of strike that balance in making sure we capture the opportunity while staying disciplined and making sure that we're focused in the way we target high-value users across the board.

也就是說，我們從這次演出中得到了一些很好的學習和見解。值得注意的是，正如我們所討論的，正如丹尼爾所提到的，考慮我們的行銷支出以及如何校準它。我認為你說得對，我們非常關注較高的 LTV 與 CAC 門檻，但我們也希望確保我們能夠抓住不同市場投資曲線下的所有機會。我認為，重要的是取得這種平衡，確保我們抓住機遇，同時保持紀律，確保我們專注於全面瞄準高價值用戶。

All right. Next question from Justin Patterson on education. Daniel, could you please frame the opportunity you see in education? How would you characterize the investment to succeed here versus what you had to invest in podcast and Audiobooks? What would cause you to expand beyond the U.K.?

好的。下一個問題來自賈斯汀·帕特森關於教育的問題。丹尼爾，您能否概括一下您在教育領域看到的機會？與您在播客和有聲讀物上的投資相比，您如何描述在這裡取得成功的投資？什麼促使您將業務拓展到英國以外？

Yes. I mean this is very, very early days. For those of you that may not know, we've rolled out an early test in the U.K., where we have an educational offering for consumers. Long term, education remains obviously a huge potential opportunity for Spotify, but it's too early to say what the results is of the specific test that we have.

是的。我的意思是，現在還處於非常早期的階段。對於那些可能不知道的人來說，我們已經在英國推出了早期測試，我們為消費者提供教育服務。 從長遠來看，教育領域顯然仍是 Spotify 的巨大潛在機會，但現在判斷我們進行的具體測試結果如何還為時過早。

But as many things with Spotify, maybe to up-level a little bit, is that oftentimes, we either see consumers or creators tapping into a need. And quite often, what ends up happening is that creators are using our platforms for things that we may not have initially intended it. So a long while ago, we added the ability to have a certain podcast behind a paywall. And what we were seeing was that some of these podcasts were actually having courses available for them so that you can consume that and unlock them via Spotify, which is a great use case. Now the problem of that, obviously, is that this has been a far than really a great user experience for consumers. So people are hacking our system in a positive way to do more things on it. And this is exactly how Audiobooks started for us, too.

但就像 Spotify 的許多事情一樣，也許更高級一點的是，我們經常看到消費者或創作者滿足某種需求。而通常最終發生的情況是，創作者利用我們的平台做一些我們最初沒有想到的事情。很久以前，我們就加入了讓某個播客置於付費牆之後的功能。我們看到，其中一些播客實際上有可用的課程，以便您可以使用並透過 Spotify 解鎖它們，這是一個很好的用例。現在的問題是，這顯然為消費者帶來了遠非出色的用戶體驗。因此人們正在以積極的方式入侵我們的系統以便在其上做更多的事情。這也正是有聲書的起源。

So Audiobooks started in Germany for us where the music labels had a bunch of audiobook rights and were uploading these audiobooks to our platform, and they started seeing great consumer success. And similarly, on education, we've started seeing how people are using Spotify for educational purposes. And what we're trying to do now is obviously create a much more compelling consumer experience for said education, and we're adding more tools that allows these educators to communicate, not just via audio but also via video and adding more and more ways for them to engage in that way.

因此，有聲書始於德國，那裡的音樂唱片公司擁有大量有聲書的版權，並將這些有聲書上傳到我們的平台，他們開始在消費者中看到巨大的成功。同樣，在教育方面，我們開始看到人們如何將 Spotify 用於教育目的。我們現在試圖做的顯然是為上述教育創造更引人注目的消費者體驗，並且我們正在添加更多工具，讓這些教育工作者能夠進行交流，不僅通過音頻，還可以通過視頻，並為他們提供越來越多的參與方式。

And I think long term, if you squint and see that, education remains a massive opportunity. And the Internet should be poised to create unparalleled user experience where some of the world's best educators and creators and storytellers should be able to help lots of consumers. So what you can see if you're a consumer in the U.K. at the moment at the start is you're going to see lots of really cool ways where, for instance, you can learn how to become a better DJ using Spotify or learn how to play the guitar and some really amazing content that's on there by creators. And a lot of these creators were already doing podcasts, and they're now adding ways to up-monetize their fans by creating amazing content that allows them to get better at their craft.

我認為從長遠來看，如果你仔細觀察就會發現，教育仍然是一個巨大的機會。網路應該準備好創造無與倫比的用戶體驗，讓世界上一些最好的教育家、創造者和說故事的人能夠幫助大量消費者。因此，如果你是英國的消費者，那麼一開始你就會看到很多非常酷的方式，例如，你可以學習如何使用 Spotify 成為更好的 DJ，或者學習如何彈吉他，以及創作者在上面創作的一些非常精彩的內容。許多創作者已經在做播客了，現在他們正在透過創造精彩的內容來提高自己技藝，從而增加從粉絲身上獲取更多收益的方式。

And I think that is the trend in education. You guys know this, but more and more consumers are relating to other people. They're not necessarily related to faceless brands. And so this is a huge trend in education that we're very excited about.

我認為這是教育的趨勢。你們都知道這一點，但是越來越多的消費者與其他人建立聯繫。它們不一定與不知名的品牌有關。這是教育領域的一大趨勢，我們對此感到非常興奮。

All right. Our next question is going to come from Mike Morris on pricing. Recent press indicates that you've raised price in the U.K. and Australia and are planning to do so in the U.S. later this year. Can you provide an update on pricing changes for this year? How will you approach pricing increases by plan and unique pricing for Audiobooks or other Premium features?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自麥克莫里斯關於定價的問題。最近的新聞顯示，你們已經在英國和澳洲提高了價格，並計劃今年晚些時候在美國也這樣做。您能否提供今年價格變動的最新情況？您將如何按計劃提高價格以及為有聲書或其他高級功能製定獨特定價？

Yes. I'll start, and maybe Ben can add.

是的。我先開始，也許本來可以補充。

We don't preannounce anything we're doing on the -- any particular type of price increase. But as I said, the general thinking, if you want to understand how we're thinking is, it is really about value-to-price ratio. So we're constantly looking at how much value we were adding, how are consumers in that market responding to that value that we're adding and then what is the fair price to have a good value-to-price ratio.

我們不會預先宣布任何特定類型的價格上漲措施。但正如我所說，如果你想了解我們的想法，一般的想法是，這實際上是關於價值與價格的比率。因此，我們不斷關注我們增加了多少價值，該市場中的消費者對我們增加的價值有何反應，以及良好的性價比的合理價格是多少。

And we're doing this in multiple ways, of course. One is adding value into this base here, but the other way is to increasing the choice for consumers. So I do want to point to that a little bit more here. So you've seen us over the years to add more ways for consumers to choose different plans in Spotify. And it originally started off by being sort of just a single-person plan and then went to a Family Plan, and then we added Duo, and then we added various ways of paying for these family plans in, for instance, Southeast Asian markets where you can have a day pass, a week pass and so on.

當然，我們透過多種方式來實現這一目標。一種方法是在這個基礎上增加價值，另一種方法是增加消費者的選擇。所以我確實想在這裡進一步強調這一點。所以，這些年來，你已經看到我們為消費者在 Spotify 中選擇不同計劃增加了更多方式。它最初只是一種單人計劃，然後是家庭計劃，接著我們添加了 Duo，然後我們添加了各種支付家庭計劃的方式，例如在東南亞市場，你可以購買一日通行證、一周通行證等等。

So just a lot more flexibility. And you should think about that we want to offer as much flexibility as possible in this next stage of Spotify to now because we are at the size where we want to appeal to an even larger base of consumers to turn to one of our subscription offerings. So that obviously means that you'll see things like, for instance, the audiobook-only tier that was referenced earlier here. You should also expect to see a music-only tier as well. And all of this is in line to just offer as much flexibility to consumers as possible for them to pick whatever plan they feel offers the best value-to-price ratio for them.

因此靈活性更高。你應該想想，我們希望在 Spotify 的下一階段提供盡可能多的靈活性，因為我們現在的規模很大，我們希望吸引更多的消費者使用我們的訂閱服務。所以這顯然意味著你會看到類似之前提到的僅有有聲書的層級。您還應該會看到僅限音樂的層級。所有這些都是為了向消費者提供盡可能多的靈活性，讓他們選擇他們認為最具性價比的計劃。

Okay. Next question will be from Benjamin Black on gross margins. There was a big step-up in gross margin in the quarter and for the second quarter outlook. Were there any one-timers? Or is this a new trend? How should we think about the cadence of gross margin expansion for the balance of the year?

好的。下一個問題來自 Benjamin Black，關於毛利率。本季以及第二季的毛利率都有大幅提升。有一次性的東西嗎？或者這是一種新趨勢？我們該如何看待今年剩餘時間毛利率擴張的節奏？

Thanks, Ben. This is a great question. I'll start just by reemphasizing what we've been saying a few quarters in a row now. We feel really confident about the gross margin trajectory and the sequential momentum we have. So consider this a real trend and not just a function of one-offs.

謝謝，本。這是一個很好的問題。首先我想再次強調我們連續幾個季度以來一直在說的內容。我們對毛利率走勢和連續成長動能充滿信心。因此，請將其視為一種真正的趨勢，而不僅僅是一次性事件。

As I said in my prepared remarks, we have a lot of moving parts as is the case every quarter: nonmusic, music, Marketplace, to name a few of the major areas. We also had movements in other cost of revenue, such as continued favorability with cloud costs as Daniel mentioned. So there are a bunch of things driving the upside.

正如我在準備好的演講中所說的那樣，我們有很多活動的部分，就像每個季度的情況一樣：非音樂、音樂、市場，僅舉幾個主要領域。我們的其他收入成本也發生了變化，例如丹尼爾提到的雲端成本的持續有利。所以有很多因素推動了上漲。

From a year-on-year perspective, it's a continuation of the trends we talked about last quarter that I mentioned, too: music improvements driven by the growth of our Marketplace business, our continuing pivot to profitability and podcasting and also optimizing other cost of revenues. For Q2, we see momentum from these same areas persisting.

從同比角度來看，這也是我們上個季度所談到的趨勢的延續：音樂改進得益於我們的市場業務的增長、我們持續向盈利能力和播客的轉變，同時也優化了其他收入成本。對於第二季度，我們看到這些領域的發展勢頭持續存在。

Okay. And we've got another question from Doug Anmuth on Investor Day goals. You often say that Spotify is well positioned to deliver on the 2022 Investor Day goals, but the company has changed a lot since then. Were the changes that you've made and the newfound discipline required to actually deliver those goals? Or should you now have real upside because Spotify is being run very differently?

好的。我們也收到了 Doug Anmuth 關於投資者日目標的另一個問題。您經常說 Spotify 已準備好實現 2022 年投資者日的目標，但自那時起，該公司已經發生了很大變化。您所做的改變和新發現的紀律是否真正實現了這些目標？或者說，由於 Spotify 的運作方式截然不同，您現在應該擁有真正的優勢嗎？

Yes. I mean one of the things we talked about at Spotify is obviously the change is the only constant. It's a sort of mantra I have internally. So that we're changing is not perhaps something U.S. investors should be all that surprised about because that's the only thing we pride ourselves internally with, and you can see that in some of my opening remarks too about sort of how we pivot focus internally as well.

是的。我的意思是，我們在 Spotify 上談論的事情之一顯然是變化是唯一不變的。這是我內心的一種咒語。因此，我們的改變或許並不是什麼美國投資者應該感到驚訝的事情，因為這是我們內部唯一引以為豪的事情，你也可以在我的一些開場白中看到這一點，關於我們如何在內部轉移焦點。

But I think maybe to set context on the 2022 Investor Day. The 2022 Investor Day wasn't as much backward looking as it was forward looking. So what we tried to do then is to outline where we were going with the company. And some of those things, we used both internally and externally pretty much at the same time to kind of set the directions for the team. And in there, we talked about the Spotify Machine.

但我認為也許可以為 2022 年投資者日設定背景。 2022 年投資者日更多的是展望未來，而非回顧過去。因此，我們當時嘗試做的是概述公司的未來發展方向。我們幾乎同時在內部和外部使用其中的一些方法來為團隊設定方向。在那裡，我們討論了 Spotify Machine。

And the Spotify Machine being that this isn't just a sort of one-trick pony anymore, but it is actually multiple verticals working together to provide a consistent great story around just more and more choice for consumers that drives more and more engagement because you may come for the music and stay for the audiobooks and some consumers may come for the podcast and stay for the audiobooks. So this is just going to be more ways for people to interact with it. And the Machine takes care of all the complexity on the back end to deal with what was historically a very difficult problem to solve, which is multiple business models and one consumer experience. And so that's the sort of key arc of what you're seeing contributing to this story.

Spotify Machine 不再只是一家只有一招的小公司，而是多個垂直領域共同努力，圍繞消費者越來越多的選擇，提供一個一致的精彩故事，從而吸引越來越多的參與度，因為你可能是為了音樂而來，但後來卻因為有聲讀物而留下來，而有些消費者可能是為了播客而來，但後來卻因為有聲讀物而留下來。這只是為人們提供了更多與之互動的方式。機器負責處理後端的所有複雜問題，以解決歷史上非常難以解決的問題，即多種商業模式和一種消費者體驗。這就是您所看到的對這個故事做出貢獻的關鍵線索。

Now specifically related to resourcefulness, I do agree that we've made a harder pivot to that than we probably initially planned. But if you walk back to some of our comments, we did say that 2022 was an investment year, and then we also would go back eventually to focus on something else. Obviously, that was a harder pivot in 2023 than we initially planned to do. And I think that's served us well. But I would say it's really in the 80-20 story. 80% is pretty much the same, but we're actually delivering on all the things we said in 2022, and 20% is there may be some added upside by us just being a more resourceful company. And we -- I'm certainly surprised in a positive way by the resilience and the resourcefulness that the teams are showing on some line items like marketing and cost of delivery, just to mention 2 examples.

現在具體涉及到足智多謀，我確實同意我們對此的轉變比我們最初計劃的要困難得多。但如果你回顧我們的一些評論，我們確實說過 2022 年是投資年，然後我們最終也會回頭關注其他事情。顯然，2023 年的轉變比我們最初計劃的要困難得多。我認為這對我們很有幫助。但我想說這確實是一個 80-20 的故事。 80% 幾乎相同，但我們實際上正在兌現我們在 2022 年所說的所有目標，而 20% 可能意味著我們成為一家資源更豐富的公司，從而帶來一些額外的好處。我們 — — 我對團隊在行銷和交付成本等一些專案上表現出的韌性和足智多謀感到非常驚訝，僅舉兩個例子。

So I think we can be a better company than even what I said in 2022, but I think you shouldn't see this as something very different than what we outlined. It is pretty much the same but hopefully with a little bit crisper execution on it.

因此，我認為我們可以成為一家比我在 2022 年所說的更好的公司，但我認為你不應該認為這與我們所概述的有很大不同。它幾乎是相同的，但希望執行得更清晰一些。

Okay. We've got a question from Rich Greenfield on TikTok. With the U.S. government set to ban TikTok barring court intervention, how are you thinking about the opening that could create a music discovery in short-form content tied to music?

好的。我們收到了來自 Rich Greenfield 在 TikTok 上提出的問題。美國政府準備禁止 TikTok，除非法院介入。

Yes. I'm not going to comment on other companies and related on their strategy or what may happen with their regulatory proceedings. But obviously, what I can say is that we are focused on winning discovery, and we're going to add as many ways that we can to improve the discovery of Spotify. So you saw us in the quarter add music videos. You're going to see music clips in a bigger way. You can already, today, if you open up the app, start seeing more and more videos on the music side where artists are engaging with fans. Those, in a similar way, are like a reels product that TikTok did a few years ago.

是的。我不會對其他公司及其相關策略或監管程序可能發生的情況發表評論。但顯然，我可以說的是，我們專注於贏得發現，我們將盡可能增加方法來提高 Spotify 的發現率。所以您看到我們在本季度添加了音樂視頻。您將以更大的方式觀看音樂片段。今天，如果你打開該應用程序，你就可以看到越來越多關於音樂的視頻，其中藝術家與粉絲互動。類似地，它們就像 TikTok 幾年前推出的 Reels 產品。

So I think the whole industry, TikTok and other companies have obviously improved the user experience. We are all, as an industry, learning about these trends and best practices and trying to improve our products. So that's what great competition does. It helps improve for everyone. And of course, we are not any different than anyone else in that we're trying to learn from the marketplace. We learn what consumers like. We try to improve upon it, and make the best possible user experience.

所以我認為整個產業，TikTok和其他公司都明顯改善了使用者體驗。作為一個行業，我們都在學習這些趨勢和最佳實踐，並努力改進我們的產品。這就是偉大競爭所扮演的角色。它有助於每個人的進步。當然，我們和其他人沒什麼不同，我們都在努力向市場學習。我們了解消費者喜歡什麼。我們盡力改進它，並提供盡可能最佳的用戶體驗。

So short-form music content is a big focus of ours. You're going to see more video on the music side make its way into the product in 2024. And 2 other things, by the way, that you're going to see is, of course, more AI products in the music side as well. And in addition to that, I believe you're going to see an even more global music ecosystem than any time before in history. So we're excited about all these sort of 3 core trends in music.

因此，短篇音樂內容是我們的重點領域。到 2024 年，您將看到更多音樂影片進入產品。除此之外，我相信你將會看到一個比歷史上任何時候都更全球化的音樂生態系統。所以我們對音樂中的這三個核心趨勢感到非常興奮。

All right. We've got a follow-up from Rich Greenfield on top line growth. Daniel, in the short video you created on the quarter, you sounded very pleased with your 20% revenue growth rate. Premium's been the key driver aided by price increases. Curious, how should we be thinking about advertising growth going forward? Can it start to increase your overall growth rate and grow 20% plus?

好的。我們已就營業收入成長問題採訪了里奇‧格林菲爾德 (Rich Greenfield)。丹尼爾，在你為本季製作的短片中，你聽起來對 20% 的營收成長率非常滿意。溢價是推動價格上漲的主要因素。好奇的是，我們該如何看待未來的廣告成長？它能否開始提高你的整體成長率並成長20％以上？

Yes. You're right that our Premium product was sort of the big driver of the quarter, and we felt really good about that. And Ben can add to this, but we saw a lot of strength in the quarter as well as it relates to advertising.

是的。您說得對，我們的高級產品是本季的主要動力，我們對此感到非常高興。本可以補充一點，但我們在本季度看到了很大的優勢，同時也看到了廣告方面的優勢。

I think it's a little bit early to say on my side how the macro on the advertising side will develop, but I remain cautiously optimistic that we're seeing some really good growth, but again, just to remind investors, the reality is even if advertising will become a better part of the story, it's still a relatively small part of our overall revenue mix. So anything we can do on our subscription side will obviously materially outperform any improvement on the ad side.

我認為現在談論廣告方面的宏觀發展還為時過早，但我仍然謹慎樂觀地認為我們將看到一些非常好的增長，但再次提醒投資者，現實情況是，即使廣告將成為故事中更好的一部分，它仍然只占我們整體收入組合的一小部分。因此，我們在訂閱方面所做的任何事情顯然都會比廣告方面的任何改進產生更大的效果。

So don't think I'm not excited about advertising. But it just happens to be that subscription side, obviously, it's the bigger part in order to get to the 20% revenue growth.

所以不要以為我對廣告沒興趣。但恰巧訂閱業務是其中的一部分，顯然，這是實現 20% 收入成長的更大部分。

Did I miss anything, Ben?

我有沒有遺漏什麼呢，本？

Yes. I think I would just add that even in the most recent quarter, ads was just shy of the 20% mark. So we are getting quite close to sort of kind of almost parity growth rates between the 2 segments.

是的。我想補充一點，即使在最近一個季度，廣告收入也略低於 20%。因此，我們正非常接近兩個部分之間的平價成長率。

I would just say that sort of in the near term, we continue to see strong growth in supply and monetizable impressions. So we're just very focused on making sure we're optimizing across all channels to meet the growing demand as budgets continue to unlock sequentially each quarter.

我只想說，短期內，我們將繼續看到供應量和可貨幣化印象的強勁成長。因此，我們非常注重確保我們在所有管道中進行最佳化，以滿足不斷增長的需求，因為預算每季都會繼續依序解鎖。

Okay. We've got a question now from Benjamin Black on Universal Music Group. Could you talk a little bit about your expanded relationship with Universal Music Group that was announced this quarter? What are the key benefits for you? And where could we see the biggest impact to the financial model?

好的。我們現在收到了來自環球音樂集團的本傑明·布萊克的一個問題。您能否談談本季宣布的與環球音樂集團的進一步合作關係？對您來說主要的好處是什麼？我們在哪裡可以看到對財務模型的最大影響？

Yes. I mean generally speaking, we're always -- just to set expectations, we're always sort of working with our partners across all different content mixes and, of course, the major labels, too. And a huge part of what we're trying to do is operationally improve and allowing us for more flexibility to work together. And that means to allow the teams on the various side to give more opportunities to experiment on the platform with rights.

是的。我的意思是，一般來說，我們總是——只是為了設定期望，我們總是與各種不同內容組合的合作夥伴合作，當然還有主要的唱片公司。我們所做的工作有很大一部分是嘗試改善運營，讓我們能夠更靈活地合作。這意味著允許各方團隊在有權利的平台上進行更多實驗的機會。

And so a way of showcasing that is really, for instance, around the music videos that now are in, I believe, 11 or 12 markets around the world. So that's a great way of just showing how we work with our label partners across the board. You're also going to see music clips show up in a bigger way where artists are using ways of short-form storytelling on video to tell the story around their album or tell fans about a new album drop that they should be presaving.

因此，展示這種音樂影片的一種方式實際上是圍繞著音樂影片進行的，我相信，目前音樂影片已經覆蓋了全球 11 或 12 個市場。這是一種很好的方式來展示我們如何與我們的品牌合作夥伴進行全面合作。您還將看到音樂剪輯以更大的方式出現，藝術家使用影片中的簡短敘事方式來講述他們專輯的故事或告訴粉絲他們應該預先保存的新專輯。

So there's lots and lots of innovation that's happening together with our label partners and artists alike. And UMG is obviously a very important partner to us, just as the other major labels and the independent labels are, too.

因此，我們與唱片公司合作夥伴和藝術家們一起進行了大量的創新。顯然，UMG 是我們非常重要的合作夥伴，就像其他主流唱片公司和獨立唱片公司一樣。

And I think long term, the way to think about that from a financial impact point of view is really the more we can improve engagement, the more value we're creating, the more ability we will have eventually to capture some of that value through price increases or more inventory that then drives advertising, which, of course, is to the benefit not just of Spotify, but it's the benefit of the entire creative community.

我認為，從長期來看，從財務影響的角度來看，我們越能提高參與度，我們創造的價值就越多，我們最終通過提高價格或更多庫存來獲取部分價值的能力就越強，從而推動廣告，這當然不僅對 Spotify 有利，也對整個創意社區有利。

All right. We've got -- our next question is going to come from Rich Greenfield on music royalty rates. How does the recent launch of an audiobook $9.99 unlimited product impact your statutory music royalty rates? Why are publishers concerned?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自里奇·格林菲爾德 (Rich Greenfield) 關於音樂版稅率的問題。最近推出的有聲書 9.99 美元無限產品對您的法定音樂版稅率有何影響？出版商為何如此擔憂？

Yes. I mean -- so first, I talked about this, but a huge part in this next phase of Spotify is really to allow for more flexibility for consumers. So we went from a single plan, $9.99 back in the day, to then improving family plans to then adding Duo to then having day pricing, week pricing in certain markets. And now you're seeing an audiobook-only tier, and you're going to see eventually a music-only tier, too.

是的。我的意思是——首先，我談到了這一點，但 Spotify 下一階段的很大一部分實際上是為了給消費者更多的靈活性。因此，我們從單一計劃（最初 9.99 美元）開始，改進家庭計劃，然後添加 Duo，最後在某些市場採用每日定價、週定價。現在您看到的是僅有有聲書的層級，最終您還會看到僅有音樂的層級。

So that's on the specific around the offering side. You will see a lot more sort of tiers that allows for more flexibilities to consumers to opt into the type of deal that they believe offers the greatest value for them in terms of how they're using Spotify.

這就是關於提供方面的具體內容。你會看到更多層級，為消費者提供更多彈性，讓他們可以自由選擇他們認為在使用 Spotify 方面能為他們帶來最大價值的交易類型。

Now specifically to our content partners, while I won't comment on any specifics, what I would say is that, of course, this is the sort of natural tension between suppliers and distributors. There's always a tension around payments. Now to level-set this, we did our Loud & Clear a while ago, but I think it's important to note that Spotify, in 2023, had record payouts to the entire creative community, and global publishing revenue will hit a record for -- hit a record for 2023, and we will pay even more in 2024.

現在具體到我們的內容合作夥伴，雖然我不會對任何具體細節發表評論，但我想說的是，這當然是供應商和分銷商之間的一種自然的緊張關係。付款方面總是存在緊張局勢。現在，為了平衡這一點，我們不久前就做了 Loud & Clear，但我認為值得注意的是，Spotify 在 2023 年向整個創意社群支付了創紀錄的報酬，全球出版收入將在 2023 年創下歷史新高，我們將在 2024 年支付更多。

So I feel really good about where we are relative to our partners and the fact that we are growing the creator ecosystem. And that still remains our goal, and I feel good about delivering on that goal, too. So yes, of course, there's always going to be tension between that sort of supplier-distributor thing. But I would say, we are on track for a better 2024 for songwriters and publishers. So I feel good about delivering lots and lots of value. And relative to the CD era, publishers and songwriters are faring way better in the streaming economy. So I feel good about that.

因此，我對我們與合作夥伴的關係以及我們正在發展的創作者生態系統感到非常滿意。這仍然是我們的目標，我也很高興能夠實現這個目標。是的，當然，供應商和分銷商之間總是存在著緊張關係。但我想說，我們正朝著對詞曲作者和出版商來說更好的 2024 年邁進。因此我很高興能夠提供大量的價值。相對於 CD 時代，出版商和詞曲作者在串流媒體經濟中的表現要好得多。所以我對此感覺很好。

Okay. Our next question is going to come from Jessica Reif Ehrlich on advertising. This past quarter, The Trade Desk called audio a key area of growth for their business. Programmatic advertising is currently a small part of your business. Can you provide some color on the growth opportunity in programmatic and advertising in general?

好的。我們的下一個問題來自 Jessica Reif Ehrlich 關於廣告的問題。上個季度，The Trade Desk 稱音訊是其業務成長的關鍵領域。程序化廣告目前只是您業務的一小部分。您能否詳細介紹一下程序化廣告和一般廣告的成長機會？

Thanks, Jessica. It's a great question. We believe, as you sort of framed in your question, that programmatic is a growing and important part of the mix, and we're bullish on this channel long term. It's an opportunity really for all to participate, small-, mid-, large-sized enterprises and businesses across the board.

謝謝，傑西卡。這是一個很好的問題。我們相信，正如您在問題中提到的那樣，程序化廣告正成為一個日益增長的重要部分，並且我們對這一渠道的長期發展持樂觀態度。這確實是所有人都可以參與的機會，無論是小型、中型或大型企業，以及各領域的商家。

As Daniel mentioned kind of in a prior answer, ads is still the smaller part of our mix. And as you call out in your question, programmatic is also a small part of that smaller portion. Right now, as I said in my prior answer related to advertising, we just continue to sort of focus on optimizing across all formats and delivery channels to meet the opportunity where it is.

正如丹尼爾在之前的回答中提到的那樣，廣告仍然是我們業務組合中較小的一部分。正如你在問題中提到的，程序化也只是那一小部分。現在，正如我之前在廣告的回答中所說的那樣，我們只是繼續專注於優化所有形式和交付管道，以抓住機會。

In terms of near-term opportunity, again, very focused on 2024, we continue to watch closely but are encouraged by what we're seeing as advertiser budgets unlocking sequentially each quarter. And we've got some good macro trends momentum heading into the summer in the second half with global events like the Euros, Olympics, amongst others.

就近期機會而言，我們再次高度關注 2024 年，我們將繼續密切關注，但看到廣告商預算每季依次解鎖，我們感到鼓舞。隨著歐洲盃、奧運等全球性盛事的舉辦，我們在下半年夏季迎來了一些良好的宏觀趨勢勢頭。

Great. Okay. We actually have time for one more question, and that's going to be a follow-up from Jessica Reif Ehrlich on Christian Luiga. You recently announced Christian as your new CFO. Daniel, what in particular about Christian's capabilities or skill set do you think will be most additive to Spotify? And what will Christian's top priorities be when he joins the company?

偉大的。好的。實際上，我們還有時間再問一個問題，這將是 Jessica Reif Ehrlich 對 Christian Luiga 的後續問題。您最近宣布克里斯蒂安 (Christian) 為新任財務長。丹尼爾，您認為克里斯蒂安的哪些能力或技能對 Spotify 最有益處？那麼克里斯蒂安加入公司後，他的首要任務是什麼？

Yes. So I've actually seen Christian firsthand for quite some time. Just as a sort of fun anecdote, so Christian was part of the team at TeliaSonera that made the Spotify investment in 2015. So he's very familiar with the company and myself and Martin Lorentzon, the other Co-Founder of Spotify. So we know Christian quite well. And it's been fun to follow his progress from a far, obviously, at TeliaSonera and then going to Saab, tackling different industries but kind of always with a consistent great track record. And that's a track record of improving the bottom line but, at the same time, be very, very focused on driving a much better business even on the top line, too.

是的。因此我實際上已經直接見過克里斯蒂安相當長一段時間了。有趣的是，克里斯蒂安是 TeliaSonera 團隊的一員，該團隊於 2015 年對 Spotify 進行了投資。所以我們非常了解克里斯蒂安。很顯然，從遠處關注他的進步是一件很有趣的事情，從他在 TeliaSonera 到後來加入薩博，涉足不同的行業，但始終保持著良好的業績記錄。這是提高底線業績的記錄，但同時，我們也非常非常專注於推動更好的業務，甚至是頂線業務。

And I think that's the sort of key thing that got me and the rest of the team to be excited about him too because this is a person who's been at many different industries and seen many different things. And this is not just someone who's focused on optimizing on the bottom line by cutting costs but actually someone who's focused on what's right for the business even on the top line, too. And that feels like the right fit for us. So we're very excited about that.

我認為這正是讓我和團隊其他成員對他感到興奮的關鍵因素，因為他曾從事過許多不同的行業，見過許多不同的事情。這不僅僅是一個專注於透過削減成本來優化底線的人，而且實際上也是一個專注於什麼對業務有利甚至對頂線有利的人。這對我們來說似乎很合適。我們對此感到非常興奮。

And really, the top priorities as he comes in is to be focused on -- together with the team on driving even further improvements, on being resourceful. That is our sort of key mantra. We think we still have more ways to go when it comes to that. So we're excited about that. And then one of the questions here alluded to sort of capital allocation, so I'm sure that will be one of his top priorities together with myself and the team, too.

事實上，他上任後的首要任務是集中精力——與團隊一起推動進一步的改進，並充分利用資源。這是我們的關鍵口號。我們認為，在這方面我們還有更多的路要走。我們對此感到很興奮。這裡的一個問題提到了資本配置，所以我相信這將是他和我以及團隊的首要任務之一。

So we're excited about it. But yes, he's going to be a great addition, I think, to the team, and I look forward to all of you guys meeting him as well.

所以我們對此感到很興奮。但我認為，他會為球隊做出巨大貢獻，我也期待你們所有人與他見面。

All right. Great. So that's going to conclude our Q&A session today. Thanks, everyone, for the questions. And now I'd like to turn the call back over to Daniel for some closing remarks.

好的。偉大的。今天的問答環節就到此結束。謝謝大家的提問。現在我想將電話轉回給丹尼爾，請他做一些結束語。

All right. Well, thanks, Bryan. We've talked about 2024 as the year of monetization, and I think we're really delivering on that ambition. Now as we've shifted the focus on strong revenue growth and margin expansion, we see a clear opportunity to ensure we're also continuing to grow the top of our funnel. I feel good about the changes we're implementing and remain very confident in our ability to reach the ambitious plans we've outlined.

好的。好吧，謝謝，布萊恩。我們已經將 2024 年定為貨幣化之年，我認為我們確實正在實現這一目標。現在，我們已將重點轉向強勁的收入成長和利潤率擴大，我們看到了一個明顯的機會，以確保我們也能繼續擴大漏斗頂端。我對我們正在實施的變革感到滿意，並且對我們實現所概述的雄心勃勃的計劃的能力充滿信心。

So thanks, everyone, for joining us, and I look forward to speaking to you next quarter.

所以，感謝大家加入我們，我期待下個季度與你們交談。

Okay. Great. And that concludes today's call. A replay will be available on our website and also on the Spotify app under Spotify Earnings Call Replays. Thanks, everyone, for joining.

好的。偉大的。今天的電話會議到此結束。重播將在我們的網站和 Spotify 應用程式的 Spotify 財報電話會議重播下提供。感謝大家的加入。