Spotify listeners cross half a billion mark

(Reuters) -Spotify Technology SA said on Wednesday it would roll out new features like smart shuffle and previews of podcasts and music playlists on its audio streaming platform, as it crossed 500 million in monthly active listeners.

The Swedish company, which has invested heavily in building up its podcast and audiobooks business in recent years in a bid to attract users and advertisers, announced the "new re-imagined user interface" at its Stream On event.

Spotify also shared an update to its annual music royalties report, noting that the number of artists making over $1 million as well as those generating over $10,000 had more than doubled in the past five years.

Earlier this year, Spotify said it would tighten spending and work to become efficient given the tough macroeconomic backdrop and projected the number of listeners would reach 500 million in the current quarter.

Features like autoplay for podcasts, personalized visual and audio previews of podcast episodes and audiobooks or music playlists, and new feeds for discovery will be rolled out in waves starting Wednesday, Spotify said.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)