Spotify and Capital One announced a new partnership this morning that will offer 50 percent credit rebates for users who sign up for its premium subscription service using a Capital One Quicksilver card. The offer, which lasts through April 30 of next year, applies to both the regular $9.99/month streaming option, as well as its student and family plans; at an annual rate of $120, that's worth as much as $60 a year in credit returned via cardholders' statements.
This deal is the second big-name discount partnership that Spotify has rolled out this year; in February, the company announced a deal with the New York Times to offer a digital subscription to the paper of record for $5 per week, which would come with a free one-year subscription to Spotify premium.
It also comes at a time when streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are delving further into television series and artist-centered initiatives to try and attract new subscribers, particularly as new competitors like Pandora, Amazon and iHeart enter the on-demand streaming space. With the number of streaming subscribers worldwide soaring to 112 million in 2016, according to the IFPI's annual global music report, up from 68 million the year prior, the rate that new subscribers are jumping on board with paid on-demand accounts is still growing around the world. And as Spotify continues to mull its future as a public company, subscription growth remains a high priority.
"As we continue to work with partners in different sectors of different industries, our goal is to work with brands who are just as innovative and forward-thinking as we are, providing rewards for our customers that enhance their experience both on and off Spotify," Spotify's head of direct subscriber and regional partnerships Nick Mehra told Billboard. "We've built a business that has 100 million users and 50 million paying subscribers and we're continuing to look to create experiences and partnerships that connect with our users."
Mehra noted that this is "the first financial institution partnership for Spotify within the U.S.," and stressed the simplicity of the deal, which allows both new users and those who already have premium accounts to take advantage of the credit return.
"We know more and more of [our customers] are using Spotify," Capital One's digital partnerships lead, U.S. Card Lauren Liss told Billboard. "It's also a really great time of year; summer is really a time that a lot of folks are listening to music, going on road trips, enjoying summer barbecues, listening to music on the beach. So we see this as an opportunity to add a lot of value for our customers."
Both Mehra and Liss declined to get into specifics as to whether Spotify or Capital One was underwriting the discounted rate, or whether there was a success metric in terms of the number of subscribers or sign ups the partnership could generate for Spotify. Mehra also declined to comment on early returns from Spotify's Times partnership. The Spotify-Capital One partnership goes into effect today, May 10.