Korean startup Spoon Radio Inc, which operates the popular digital audio live-streaming service, has achieved remarkable growth in the first three quarters of the year, registering a profit for 9 consecutive months from January to September. The company has got 34 billion won ($23 million) in cumulative sales until the third quarter.
This performance of Spoon Radio is equivalent to an increase in operating profit of more than 23 billion won ($16 million) compared to 2021. The amount of payment in the app is also steadily increasing every month, which is a sign that the number of high-income DJs in Japan is continuously rising, which seems to have turned on a green light for entering the global market.
Spoon Radio’s a real-time audio broadcasting platform ‘Spoon,’ is like ‘YouTube’ of the audio world especially for Generation Z users, with an average of 1 million monthly users as of September 2022. Japan accounts for more than half of the countries using the service, and it is reborn as a global audio platform by securing users in Korea, the United States, and the Middle East.
Spoon Radio changed its direction from the strategy of growing through aggressive marketing until last year to the strategy of making profits without attracting investment this year. Since then, it has been focusing on the improvement of the nature of the service and the growth of DJs that generate profits. As a result, it has been in the black every month since January, and as of the third quarter, it has recorded cumulative sales of 34 billion won and an operating profit of 4 billion won.
The main reason for Spoon Radio’s earnings growth this time is securing high-income DJs. Compared to last year, the number of high-income DJs increased by more than 20%, from 840 to 1,030.
In addition, the content startup has focused on countries with high potential through selection and concentration in the global market. As a result, about half of the current total users are Japanese users. The payment amount in Japan is also increasing steadily enough to account for more than 50% of the total payment amount.
Choi Hyuk-jae, CEO of Spoon Radio, said, “This achievement is meaningful in that it proved that it could break away from the so-called deficit growth strategy of the past, which prioritized aggressive marketing costs and created operating profit. We plan to focus on growing together, improving the quality of content, and growing sales.”
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