The music streaming service Spotify filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday, becoming the first company to file for a direct listing of up to $1bn with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

A direct listing is an unconventional way to pursue an IPO without raising new capital, helping the company eliminate the need for a Wall Street bank or broker to underwrite the public offer. The company would seek to list its ordinary shares on the New York stock exchange under the ticker symbol “SPOT”.

Spotify, the world’s biggest music streaming company, counts tech giants Apple and Amazon as its main rivals. The Swedish firm said in the SEC filing that its 2017 revenue stood at €4.09bn ($4.99bn), compared with €2.95bn ($3.6bn) a year earlier. Its operating loss widened to €378m ($461m) in 2017 from €349m ($426m) a year earlier.

Spotify has a presence in more than 60 countries, with a total of 71 million premium subscribers and about 159 million monthly average users.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filing is usually only a placeholder.