Spotify’s revenue was €17.2B in 2025, up 9.7% (Spotify reports in euros): €15.3B from Premium subscriptions and €1.8B from advertising. That is 5.8× its 2016 revenue. In Q2 2026 revenue was €4.8B, up 14%.
How we source: figures on this page come from the company’s own filings (SEC 10-K, 10-Q and earnings releases, or its annual report), with the period stated next to each number. Last refreshed October 2026. Our methodology.
Spotify revenue: €17.2B, 89% from subscribers. Source: Spotify Form 20-F, 2025 (year to 31 Dec 2025), SEC EDGAR: revenue by segment, MAUs, Premium Subscribers, ad-supported MAUs; earlier 20-Fs for revenue history; Q2 2026 Form 6-K (quarter to 30 Jun 2026): quarterly revenue and segment revenue. Shares calculated. Bars and columns to scale. Analysis by The Business Engineer.
Earlier analysis and background (pre-2026 figures)
The text below is the earlier version of this page. Its figures refer to earlier periods and some were corrected above; the current, sourced figures are in the sections above.
S
Spotify Revenue
SPOT · FY2024
$16.7B
Total Revenue (FY2024)
+17% YoY
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Spotify achieved its first sustained profitability in 2024 after years of losses, with 640M+ users and 252M+ subscribers.
In Q2 2026, Spotify had 777 million monthly active users, of which 300 million premium subscribers and 494 million ad-supported monthly active users.
Spotify’s cost structure is quite interesting because the premium side of the business is run at wide margins (34% in 2025), and the ad-supported business works as a funnel for the company (most premium members were free users before); it’s self-sustaining.
Updated 6 October 2026: we refreshed 9 figures on this page, now taken from SEC EDGAR filings. Anything we could not check against a current source keeps its original year, so you can see how old it is.
Latest figures · checked 6 October 2026
Spotify reported total revenue of €4,777 million in Q2 2026, with Premium revenue of €4,331 million and Ad-Supported revenue of €446 million. SEC EDGAR filings
In Q2 2026, Spotify’s MAUs grew 12% year over year to 777 million, and its Premium Subscribers grew 9% to 300 million. SEC EDGAR filings
For fiscal year 2025, Spotify reported revenue of €17,186 million and operating income of €2,198 million. SEC EDGAR filings
Spotify’s Premium Subscribers were 290 million as of December 31, 2025. SEC EDGAR filings
Spotify had an average of 7,287 full-time employees in 2025. SEC EDGAR filings
In fact, in 2025, the ad-supported segment generated a gross profit of €330 million!
Spotify generated €11.56 billion from premium members and €1.68 billion from ad-supported members. The premium membership revenue cost was €8.23 billion and €1.62B billion for the ad-supported segment. Thus, premium members generated a profit of €3.33B billion for Spotify in 2023. Meanwhile, the ad-supported segment generated a €62 million gross profit in 2023. The ad-supported segment, which is run almost at a loss, is critical for Spotify as it enables it to build a sustainable self-serving funnel to convert free users into paid subscribers!
This is critical to understand the economics of Spotify’s business model, where the ad-supported segment works as a funnel, which channels millions of free users (to turn into premium members) into the company.
Key numbersChecked 6 October 2026
€4,777 millionSpotify reported total revenue of €4,777 million in Q2 2026, with Premium revenue of €4,331 million and…SEC EDGAR filings
€17,186 millionFor fiscal year 2025, Spotify reported revenue of €17,186 million and operating income of €2,198 million.SEC EDGAR filings
12%In Q2 2026, Spotify's MAUs grew 12% year over year to 777 million, and its Premium Subscribers grew 9% to…SEC EDGAR filings
33.4%In Q2 2026, Spotify's gross margin was 33.4% and its operating income was €655 million.SEC EDGAR filings
In one lineAd-Supported: $2.4B (14%) 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Spotify achieved its first sustained profitability in 2024 after years of losses, with 640M+ users and 252M+ subscribers.
FourWeekMBABusiness EngineerAt a glance
Spotify reported total revenue of €4,777 million in Q2 2026, with Premium revenue of €4,331 million and Ad-Supported revenue of €446 million.
For fiscal year 2025, Spotify reported revenue of €17,186 million and operating income of €2,198 million.
In fact, in 2025, the ad-supported segment generated a gross profit of €330 million!
Spotify is probably one of the most successful examples of the freemium businessmodel.
Layout and figures refreshed 6 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end of the article.
Why it mattersFrom the article
Spotify's cost structure is quite interesting because the premium side of the business is run at wide margins (34% in 2025), and the ad-supported business works as a funnel for the company (most premium members were free users before); it's self-sustaining.
And yet, once the free users have been turned into premium members, the funnel reinforces itself, as premium members have a very slow churn rate (premium members stay a long time).
Spotify licensing deals affect its businessmodel. The company runs on both a free service, which is ad-supported and a subscription premium service. They have different economics.
The ad-supported business had a 10% gross margin in 2021, compared to 29% of the subscription-based business. That’s because the more the content gets streamed on the platform, the more that increases royalty costs for Spotify. That is also why the company invested in developing its content. Thus, in part transitioning from platform to brand.
In addition, Spotify has been strengthening its ad-supported platform in the last years, thus, we might see this segment becoming even more important in the coming years.
Spotify Audience Network is the underlying advertising infrastructure that supports its ad-supported user base. The Spotify Audience Network was born as the result of the acquisitions of Anchor and Megaphone. By 2022, Spotify had 273 million ad-supported users.
The freemium – unless the whole organization is aligned around it – is a growth strategy rather than a businessmodel. A free service is provided to a majority of users, while a small percentage of those users convert into paying customers through the sales funnel. Free users will help spread the brand through word of mouth.
The multi-billion music streaming company Spotify is primarily owned by its founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. As of 2023, Daniel Ek has 15.3% ownership of ordinary shares and 30.5% of the voting power. Martin Lorentzon has 10.9% of ordinary shares and 42.7% of the voting power. Another key shareholder is Baillie Gifford & Co, a Scottish-based money management firm (12% ownership ), followed by Tencent (8.4% ownership).
Spotify is a two-sided marketplace, running a free ad-supported service and a paid membership. Founded in 2008 with the belief that music should be universally accessible, it generated €13.25 billion in 2023. Of these revenues, 87.3%, or €11.56 billion, came from premium memberships, while over 12.6%, or €1.68 billion, came from ad-supported members. By 2023, Spotify had over 600 million users, of which 236 million were premium members and 379 million weread-supported users.
Spotify Audience Network is the underlying advertising infrastructure that supports its ad-supported user base. The Spotify Audience Network was born as the result of the acquisitions of Anchor and Megaphone. By 2023, Spotify had 379 million ad-supported users.
Spotify licensing deals affect its businessmodel. The company runs on both a free service, which is ad-supported and a subscription premium service. They have different economics.
The ad-supported business had a 10% gross margin in 2021, compared to 29% of the subscription-based business. That’s because the more the content gets streamed on the platform, the more that increases royalty costs for Spotify. That is also why the company invested in developing its content. Thus, in part transitioning from platform to brand.The Spotify Model is an autonomous approach to scaling agile, focusing on culture communication, accountability, and quality. The Spotify model was first recognized in 2012 after Henrik Kniberg, and Anders Ivarsson released a white paper detailing how streaming company Spotify approached agility. Therefore, the Spotify model represents an evolution of agile.
Spotify generated €11.56 billion from premium members and €1.68 billion from ad-supported members. The premium membership revenue cost was €8.23 billion and €1.62B billion for the ad-supported segment. Thus, premium members generated a profit of €3.33B billion for Spotify in 2023. Meanwhile, the ad-supported segment generated a €62 million gross profit in 2023. The ad-supported segment, which is run almost at a loss, is critical for Spotify as it enables it to build a sustainable self-serving funnel to convert free users into paid subscribers!
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur, HackerNoon and Search Engine People. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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