MUMBAI: Music streaming service- Spotify revealed that within a space of 18 months, it has doubled its number of paying customers, taking the total to 10 million. The service last announced the number of its global subscribers as six million in March 2013. Since then, the number has grown, giving Spotify a huge lead over its rivals like Deezer and Beats Music.

The company, which is based in Stockholm, also stated that it now has a total of 40 million active users, which has grown from 24 million in 2013. However, most of these users opt for Spotify's free service even though it does not include premium features and is not ad-free. The service's premium subscription on the other hand, is unlimited, free of ads and includes premium features but costs $9.99.

Chief executive and founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek said, "Ten million subscribers is an important milestone for both Spotify and the music industry. We're widening our lead in the digital music space."

Spotify's growth can be attributed to the overhaul of its mobile apps last year which allowed users to stream music for free on iOS and Android. Within a week of making the app available, the company had said that the number of downloads had increased by four times.

Earlier this year, the Swedish company also acquired Echo Nest- a music data company, and partnered with Vodafone in UK and Sprint in the US to provide streaming with plans. The music streaming service is currently available in 56 countries around the world.

Although it is the leader in music streaming services, Spotify, which was launched in 2008, is competing with internet radios- iTunes Radio, which is estimated to have 20 million listeners and Pandora, which as of April 2014 has 76 million users.