Music streaming service Spotify reaches 50 million subscribers

Spotify has firmly established itself as the market leader of music streaming apps after the company surpassed 50m subscribers on Friday.

The Stockholm based company, which is still to make a profit as it spends big to achieve international growth, said that it had added 10m subscriptions in the last six months.

Spotify has faced increased competition from the likes of Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal, but it still remains well ahead of the chasing pack in terms of user growth.

It has signed major agreements with some of the largest record labels on the globe, but its increased user base has allowed it to be more demanding with such labels, leading to a standstill in recent months over new deals.

Speculation is mounting that Spotify will attempt to float its shares on the stock market as early as 2018, especially following the success of Snapchat's IPO on Thursday in New York.

Spotify is in the midst of plans to move its headquarters in Manhattan to the World Trade Center, creating over 1,000 new jobs.