12/264 consoles to cars. The flexibility of our platform and the ability to access it via a single user ID across mobile, tablet, and other connected devices creates a seamless and integrated experience that is designed to fit a variety of lifestyles. As an independent service, we are uniquely positioned to work with the broadest set of partners in the ecosystem. Benefits for Creators Spotify provides a large stage for creators and artists to connect with existing fans and to be discovered by new fans. In addition to providing artists with access to 159 million MAUs, we also provide artists with a full stack of tools and services, enabling them to grow their businesses on a single platform. • Monetization. Through December 31, 2017, we have paid more than €8 billion in royalties to artists, music labels, and publishers since our launch. In 2017, our expenses for rights holders grew by 27% year­over­year. We believe that our number of Premium Subscribers is nearly double the size of our nearest competitor, Apple Music. • Discovery. We not only help artists connect with existing fans, but we also support artists in connecting with the Users who are most likely to become fans of their music. From our curation algorithms and data assets that surface new music to Users in playlists, to physical billboards, branded events, and personalized campaigns, we offer artists the tools to connect with fans, new and old. • Distribution. An artist who makes their music available on Spotify gains access to the largest global music streaming subscription service based on our 159 million MAUs as of December 31, 2017. We offer our Service in 61 countries and territories around the world. We enable artists to distribute entire albums and individual songs to this audience. We also place artists’ content on playlists, further amplifying their reach. • Promotion . We empower artists and their managers to personalize and create unique artist profiles by providing them with tools to develop their artist image, including featuring songs on their artist profiles and creating artist playlists. On top of these standard services, we also offer artists specific promotional tools, designed to target specific Users and broad audiences in order to drive engagement. • Analytics . We provide numerous analytics for artists through our Spotify for Artists service. Analytics that artists can access include the demographics of their listening audience, Users’ anonymized geographical locations, similar artists that their fans listen to, the number of real­time Users, song performance data, playlist data, and playlist notifications. • Tools for Creation. Our Creator Technology Research Lab focuses on making tools to help artists in their creative process—with a goal of helping artists at all career stages to realize their creative visions. Our Business Model We offer both Premium and Ad­Supported Services. Our Premium and Ad­Supported Services live independently, but thrive together. We believe this business model has allowed us to achieve scale with attractive unit economics and is a critical part of our success. We continue to invest heavily in developing our two­sided marketplace with new and better product features and functionality for Users and creators and believe our investments are leading to higher User engagement and enjoyment. We provide personalization that drives a unique and tailored experience to each User and the tools for artists to reach the widest fan base. Our Ad­Supported Users and Premium Subscribers are spending more time with the Service each year. From a content perspective, on average 25 Content Hours Per MAU were streamed in each month of the fourth quarter in 5