Wrapped Helps Spotify Add Users Despite Artists’ Criticism Over Fees
Spotify has successfully expanded its user base, enhancing the experience of streaming music, podcasts, and audiobooks, even amid mounting competition in the streaming sector.
– Subscriber Growth: In the last three months of 2025, paid subscribers increased by 9 million, reaching a total of 290 million.
– Financial Performance: This surge contributed to a net profit rise of €1.17 billion, according to the company’s latest financial results.
– Artist Payments: Although Spotify reported nearly $11 billion paid to artists, criticisms persist, with many arguing that compensation for musicians remains insufficient.
Spotify currently boasts over 750 million users, including both paid and free subscribers, each receiving a personalized year-end summary of their listening habits through its popular Spotify Wrapped feature.
The Impact of Spotify Wrapped
– Spotify Wrapped is a key tool for user engagement, marking its 11th anniversary with record participation.
– The feature engaged over 300 million users and generated more than 630 million shares on social media across 56 languages.
CEO Gustav Söderström emphasized Spotify’s role in the music industry’s R&D by focusing on technological advancements.
– He stated, Our job is to understand new technologies quickly and capture their potential, which we’ve done time and again.
– The platform is adapting to innovations like adding video to podcasts and exploring AI-generated music.
However, as Spotify’s user growth continues, a heated debate looms around artist compensation:
– Recent boycotts by artists highlight concerns regarding royalties, including a notable 2025 boycott from the band Massive Attack, who called Spotify an economic burden on artists.
– Taylor Swift famously withheld her music from the platform for three years, citing inadequate payment for artists.
Spotify attributed part of its user expansion to the rising popularity of audiobooks, stating:
– The hard problems ahead – in music, in podcasts, in books, in video, in live performances, and in innovations yet to be realized – we will keep building the technology to solve them.
In the final quarter of 2025, Spotify reported total revenue of $4.5 billion, leading to a 15% increase in the company’s shares following the financial results release.
Looking Ahead
With its commitment to growth and innovation, Spotify aims to navigate the challenges ahead while addressing the ongoing critique regarding artist payments. The future promises exciting developments, but the conversation about fair compensation for artists remains a critical discourse in the streaming landscape.