By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, April 23 (Reuters) - Spotify ( SPOT ) on

Tuesday reported quarterly monthly active users (MAU) of 615

million, missing its own estimates, as the Swedish music

streaming company spent less on marketing activities to draw in

more listeners.

First-quarter MAUs rose 19%, but missed Spotify's ( SPOT ) own

guidance and a median of analysts' forecasts of 618 million.

Premium subscribers, who account for most of the company's

revenue, rose by 14% to 239 million, in line with estimates,

according to IBES data from LSEG.

Spotify ( SPOT ) has been cutting costs, including through layoffs

and its marketing budget, as it looks to increase margins and

profits.

Gross margins rose to 27.6% in the quarter from 25.2% a year

earlier, helped partly by higher profits in its podcast

business. Its gross profit also crossed 1 billion euros in a

quarter for the first time.

Spotify ( SPOT ) celebrates its 18th birthday on Tuesday.

"We have talked about 2024 as the year of monetization and

we are delivering on that ambition," CEO Daniel Ek said in a

statement.

The company's quarterly revenue rose 20% to 3.64 billion

euros ($3.89 billion), beating estimates of 3.61 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9367 euros)