Spotify (SPOT  ) , the world's largest music streaming service, announced Monday to double its geographic footprint. The service will expand into some 85 new markets, giving the platform access to 1 billion potential customers.

The announcement helped power Spotify's share price to a record high. But greater questions remain about Spotify's long-term value, especially given the anemic returns of its two-year-long podcast push.

Spotify announced the expansion during an event entitled #StreamOn. The company made clear its ambitions to launch its service in some of the world's poorest and undeveloped corners.

Whether someone in Niger or Papua New Guinea has the funds to fork over for a Spotify subscription seems incidental. "Some of the places we're going like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nigeria have the fastest growing internet populations in the world," Chief Premium Business Officer Alex Nordstrom told Reuters.

But perhaps the larger question for Spotify isn't whether it can get more users but whether it can hold onto those users by offering them enough compelling and original content.

This question isn't lost on the companies leadership. Since 2019 Spotify has absorbed podcast companies Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Paracast. It's thrown blank checks at the likes of Joe Rogan and Michelle Obama for exclusive rights to their audio content.

And since 2019, investors seem to have bought into Spotify's vision hook line and sinker. Its share price rocketed 110% last year, despite anemic revenue growth over that same period. But in 2021, investors are looking for returns from Spotify's efforts to rebrand itself.

And so far, there haven't been any returns to speak of, according to Citigroup. "We have not seen a material positive inflection in-app downloads or ad revenue," wrote analysts. "Our fear is that if podcasting doesn't provide a way for Spotify to shift away from music label dependence, the Street may reassess the underlying value of the business. And, that would be bad for Spotify's multiple and equity value," CNBC reports.

One of the problems for Spotify is that podcasting currently isn't a lucrative business. Until recently, Advertisers had no way to gauge their ads' effectiveness due to an absence of data. However, last year Spotify launched its dynamic "Streaming Ad Insertion Tool" which enables advertisers to glean crucial information about who is hearing their ads.

Spotify plans to expand this capability to third-party content with technology from the recently acquired firm Megaphone. Third-party monetization will be crucial for Spotify in the future, as the company currently spends millions acquiring the rights to exclusive content.

In short, it's going to take time for Spotify's strategies to pay off. It might hearten investors to see Spotify's user base expand as people in Mongolia and Uganda hurriedly download the app for the first time. Spotify has taken the right steps on the podcast end by making it easier for brands to engage in targeted ad buys.

But convincing brands to buy ads is going to take more time. Whether those on Wall Street are willing to give Spotify more time remains to be seen.