Spotify Adds 38M Listeners Despite Higher Prices and Tougher Comps

Spotify’sSPOT

momentum engine has hit overdrive. The audio giant ended Q4 2025 with 751M monthly active users — its biggest quarterly jump ever after adding 38M listeners as premium subscribers rose 10% year over year. Operating income jumped 47%, topping expectations as Spotify moves from its “Year of Accelerated Execution” into co-CEO Alex Norström’s “Year of Raising Ambition.”

• Spotify posted 13% constant-currency revenue growth, while full-year net income surged 86% as gross margins expanded to 33.1%.
• The platform paid out over $11B to the music industry in 2025 — the largest annual retailer payout ever — with independent artists capturing roughly half of all royalties.

The encore ahead: Spotify’s diversification push is gaining traction. Music videos now reach 111 markets, and Page Match lets users scan physical books to jump into audiobooks. Still, Q1 2026 guidance flags a slowdown as Spotify digests its third US price hike in four years to $12.99. Even with the stock down ~30% this year, co-CEO Gustav Söderström is hopeful that Spotify can act as the music industry’s R&D arm and capture AI upside early.