- Spotify Wrapped and new product features helped drive record user growth, pushing MAUs to 751 million in Q4.
- Premium subscribers grew 10% year-over-year to 290 million as engagement across music, podcasts, and audiobooks increased.
- Spotify grew revenue to €4.5 billion while improving margins and paying out a record $11 billion to the music industry.
The numbers are in for Spotify's last quarter, and as expected, the company performed well over the past 3 months, beating most expectations across the board. Spotify hit €4.5 billion (~$5.4 billion) in revenue, representing a 13% year-over-year increase, alongside continued improvements in efficiency and profitability.
While its Q4 2025 performance jump isn't nearly as impressive as its Q3 jump, it's still a solid build on how the company has been faring this year. This quarter, the company was also able to meet the predictions it set for itself back in November.
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How Was Spotify Able to Perform Well in Q4 2025?
Most of the company's success from Q4 has been attributed to 'Spotify Wrapped', its now-famous yearly tradition of showing users their year in music, their stats, most listened to artists, songs, and a number of other information that resonated with users. This, in turn, translated to over "300 million engaged users and more than 630 million shares on social media globally in 56 languages, " making the company's 11th annual wrap its biggest ever.
At the same time, Spotify pushed a wave of features designed to make discovery more intuitive and interactive. The company rolled out Prompted Playlist, which lets Premium users describe what they want to hear using natural language, giving listeners more direct control over recommendations. It also introduced the ability to search for and follow favourite venues, discover nearby spots, and explore upcoming lineups without leaving the app, further connecting streaming with live music experiences.
On the audiobooks side, Spotify expanded Audiobooks in Premium to five new countries and added tools like Audiobook Recaps and Page Match, making it easier for users to pick up stories where they left off across formats. Together, these updates helped keep users engaged across music, podcasts, and books, strengthening Spotify’s position as a broader audio and media platform rather than just a music streaming app.
What These Updates Meant For Spotify's Subscriber Count
All these updates and features introduced came together to give the platform's subscriber count a major boost. The company reported 751 million monthly active users (MAU), up from 713 million in the previous quarter, marking the highest MAU net additions in its history. Premium subscribers also climbed 10% year-over-year to 290 million, reflecting double-digit growth as more free users convert to paid plans and existing subscribers stick around longer.
On the financial side, Spotify is showing that it can grow at scale while improving efficiency. Total revenue rose 13% year-over-year to €4.5 billion, while gross margin improved by 83 basis points to 33.1%, reflecting better cost management and a healthier mix of higher-margin products and services. The company also posted operating income of €701 million ($835 million), underscoring the progress it has made toward more consistent profitability.
The company also paid out more than $11 billion (~€9.2 billion) to the music industry in 2025, an amount it claims to be the largest annual payment to music creators from any retailer in history, with independent artists and labels accounting for about half of all royalties. Spotify also helped artists generate over $1 billion (~€839 million) in ticket sales through its live event integrations. Together, these figures suggest Spotify is finding a balance between strengthening its own financial position and reinvesting heavily in the creator ecosystem that powers its platform.
Looking Ahead
After a relatively solid quarter, the company expects to perform moderately well in Q1 2026. In its report, the company anticipates maintaining its current revenue at €4.5 billion. In addition to that, the company looks to generate an operating income of €660 million, a number slightly higher than analysts' prediction of €652.3 million.
The company also projects an addition of 3 million new net subscribers in the quarter, possibly bringing the total number of premium subscribers to 293 million.
Emmanuel Umahi
