Spotify files for public listing on NYSE, valued at $23bn

Having already shaken up the music industry, Spotify filed a prospectus to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, making it one of the most anticipated technology sector stockmarket debuts in years and a signal of the streaming market reaching its maturity as it continued to breathe life into a floundering music industry.

Instead of pursuing a traditional initial public offering, Spotify, as expected, will undertake a direct listing of its shares, issuing no new stock or raising any fresh capital, yet while allowing existing investors and insiders to trade the streaming giant's shares on the open market.

However, as Spotify would be sidestepping Wall Street banks' bids to manage the raising of new capital, the listing could see a less than favourable welcome to the markets as those banks generally spend weeks assessing demand for shares in an effort to match demand and ensure the shares are supported.

According to the prospectus, Spotify shares, which would trade under the ticker SPOT, would value the company at as much as $23bn.

But the company gave no indication as to the timing of the listing, despite being the most detailed disclosure it had ever given about its business.

Spotify said its mission was "to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these creators."

The streaming model it had kicked off had helped the long-suffering music industry after more than a decade of decline, that only began to turn around in about 2015 - when streaming truly took hold.

In the US, streaming now makes up roughly two-thirds of recorded music revenues, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, thanks to streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

According to the filing, the Swedish company had nearly $5bn in revenue in 2017, up 38.6% from the year before when it had grown 52%.

By the end of 2017, Spotify, had 159m active users, including 71m paid subscribers, but as quickly as the firm grew, so did its losses, as last year it posted a net loss of $1.5bn, widening from the $650m lost one year earlier, with its principal expense being the cost of licenses from record companies and music publishers.