Spotify’s position as a middleman doesn’t always win it a lot of fans. But as the music streamer’s latest results show, that position isn’t as precarious as it seems. 

Spotify said Tuesday morning that it added six million new paying subscribers during the third quarter, which was well over the four million the company had forecast three months ago. It projected adding nine million new paying subscribers in the fourth quarter, topping the eight million analysts had been projecting. The company also predicted that it would end the year with more than 600 million monthly active users—a mix of paying subscribers and those listening to the service’s free, ad-supported tier.