Spotify had 290 million Premium subscribers at the end of 2025, according to its Form 20-F filed with the SEC in February 2026, in 184 countries and territories. It is the largest audio subscription business in the world, and its filing shows how much of the money depends on three things: a monthly price, the right to cancel at any time, and someone else’s app store. Every figure below comes from that filing, or from the European Commission, and was checked in November 2026.
If you sell a subscription, Spotify’s numbers show what a recurring-billing business looks like at scale and where its terms get tested.
How many people use Spotify?
751 million monthly active users and 290 million Premium subscribers. Both were measured on 31 December 2025. Spotify says its MAUs grew 11% year over year and Premium subscribers 10%, from 263 million at the end of 2024.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium subscribers | 263 million | 290 million | 10% |
Premium subscribers are those on Spotify’s subscription offerings, and the filing says they may cancel their subscriptions at any time. New Premium subscribers are primarily sourced from the conversion of Ad-Supported users, which Spotify tries to encourage by highlighting features that lead to paid plans.
About 39% of monthly users pay (290 divided by 751, our calculation, using two counts taken on the same date). For a subscription seller that is a reason to put your cancellation terms in plain sight.
Premium is a promise that you can leave whenever you want. Spotify’s whole model rests on keeping that promise easy.
How much does Spotify earn?
€17.186 billion in 2025, up 10%. Revenue was €13.247 billion in 2023, €15.673 billion in 2024 and €17.186 billion in 2025, a rise of 29.7% in two years (our calculation).
Figure 1: Spotify annual revenue in billions of euros, 2023 to 2025. Source: Spotify Form 20-F for fiscal 2025, consolidated income statement.
Premium revenue was €15.350 billion in 2025, up €1.531 billion or 11% from €13.819 billion. Spotify attributes the rise mainly to more Premium subscribers, partly offset by a lower Premium average revenue per user (ARPU). Ad-Supported revenue was €1.836 billion, down 1% from €1.854 billion.
Figure 2: Spotify 2025 revenue by segment in millions of euros. Source: Spotify Form 20-F for fiscal 2025.
Premium was 89% of revenue in 2025 against 88% in 2024. Subscriptions carry the business, and advertising is a small and flat side line.
The subscription is the product. Its terms are the contract.
What do price rises do to revenue per user?
They help less than you might expect. Spotify says it periodically updates pricing to reflect the value of its offering. Even so, average Premium ARPU for 2025 was €4.63 a month, against €4.69 in 2024 and €4.39 in 2023. For the fourth quarter alone, ARPU was €4.70, down 3% from €4.85.
The filing breaks down the 2025 dip of €0.06. Unfavorable foreign exchange movements cut ARPU by €0.17 and changes in product and market mix cut it by €0.14, and price increases added €0.25, which largely offset them. For the fourth quarter, foreign exchange took off €0.29 and mix €0.16, while price increases added €0.30.
| Premium ARPU (monthly, average) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full year | €4.39 | €4.69 | €4.63 |
| Fourth quarter | €4.60 | €4.85 | €4.70 |
A price rise does not always show up as more money per user: here currency and plan mix took back most of it. Our data on subscription price rises covers how often companies raise prices and how people react.
If you raise your price, state in your terms how you will tell people and when it takes effect. That is a change to the contract, and consumer law in many places treats it that way.
Price rises helped, but growth in revenue came mostly from adding subscribers.
How profitable is Spotify?
Much more than before. Gross profit rose 16% to €5.496 billion in 2025, and consolidated gross margin reached 32%, up from 30% in 2024 and 26% in 2023. Operating income was €2.198 billion against €1.365 billion in 2024 and an operating loss of €446 million in 2023. Net income attributable to owners of the parent was €2.212 billion, against €1.138 billion in 2024 and a loss of €532 million in 2023.
Figure 3: Spotify 2025 gross margin for Premium, consolidated and Ad-Supported. Source: Spotify Form 20-F for fiscal 2025.
Premium gross margin rose from 33% to 34%, because revenue growth outpaced music royalty costs net of certain marketplace programs and audiobook licensing costs. Ad-Supported gross margin jumped from 12% to 18%. Cost of revenue was €11.690 billion, which is 68% of revenue (our calculation).
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €13.247 billion | €15.673 billion | €17.186 billion |
| Gross profit | €3.397 billion | €4.724 billion | €5.496 billion |
| Operating income (loss) | €(0.446) billion | €1.365 billion | €2.198 billion |
| Net income (loss) | €(0.532) billion | €1.138 billion | €2.212 billion |
Cost of revenue consists predominantly of royalty and distribution costs related to content streaming, and it takes about 68 cents of every euro. With a cost base like that, each subscriber who leaves matters, so how people cancel is worth getting right.
Profit came from margin, not from a higher price per user.
What happened with Apple and the App Store?
The European Commission fined Apple over €1.8 billion. Spotify’s filing says it complained to the Commission in March 2019, that the Commission opened a formal investigation in June 2020, and that in March 2024 it found Apple’s conduct illegal under EU antitrust rules and fined Apple €1.84 billion.
The Commission’s own announcement describes what it found. Apple applied restrictions, called anti-steering provisions, that stopped music streaming app developers from telling iOS users about alternative and cheaper subscriptions outside the app. The apps could not tell users the price of offers elsewhere, could not link to their own websites to buy, and could not email new users about other pricing. The Commission said this amounted to unfair trading conditions and ordered Apple to remove the provisions. It said Apple’s conduct lasted almost ten years.
Figure 4: How the anti-steering rules worked and what the Commission decided. Sources: European Commission press release IP/24/1161; Spotify Form 20-F for fiscal 2025.
Figure 5: Key dates in the Commission’s Apple music streaming case. Sources: European Commission press release IP/24/1161; Spotify Form 20-F for fiscal 2025.
This is a competition ruling about Apple’s rules for Spotify and similar apps. It is not a ruling on any seller’s own terms. But it matters to you if you sell through an app store: the store’s terms sit under yours. Our app store commission data puts those fees in context, and the data on alternative app stores shows how the choices are changing in the EU.
The App Store’s rules shape what a subscription app may say about its own price.
What does Spotify say about recurring-billing rules?
It lists them as a risk. Among the laws the filing says apply to Spotify are consumer protection and recurring billing rules. It also says certain jurisdictions have implemented or are contemplating laws that may negatively impact the recurring billing structure of its Subscription Offerings or its free or discounted trial incentives.
That is the same set of rules we cover for the US in our Click to Cancel data. In practice it means your terms need to show the price, the renewal, the trial’s end and the way out, in the same channel the person signed up in. A terms and conditions generator is a quick way to start the document, and the details should be checked against the places where you sell.
Free trials and recurring billing are named risks in a €17 billion company’s own filing. For a small business the same rules apply to a smaller subscription base.
The Bottom Line
Spotify has 290 million Premium subscribers, 751 million monthly users and €17.186 billion in revenue, 89% of it from Premium. Its margin rose to 32% and net income reached €2.212 billion, though revenue per Premium user slipped to €4.63 a month. And the EU’s €1.8 billion fine on Apple shows that the App Store’s rules can limit what a subscription app tells its own users about price.
For your business, the lessons are about terms. State the price, the renewal and the cancellation route in plain words. Say how you will notify people of a price change. And remember that if an app store takes your payments, its rules sit under yours. Then check the details against the markets where you sell. This article is data, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Premium subscribers does Spotify have? 290 million as of 31 December 2025, up 10% from 263 million a year earlier, according to Spotify’s Form 20-F. It also reports 751 million monthly active users across 184 countries and territories, up 11%.
How much revenue did Spotify make in 2025? €17.186 billion, up 10% from €15.673 billion in 2024. Premium revenue was €15.350 billion, 89% of the total, and Ad-Supported revenue was €1.836 billion, down 1%.
Is Spotify profitable? Yes. Spotify reported operating income of €2.198 billion and net income attributable to owners of the parent of €2.212 billion for 2025, compared with €1.365 billion and €1.138 billion in 2024, and losses in 2023.
Why did the EU fine Apple over Spotify’s complaint? The European Commission fined Apple over €1.8 billion for abusing its dominant position through App Store rules that stopped music streaming apps from telling iPhone users about cheaper subscriptions outside the app. Spotify filed the complaint in March 2019, according to its Form 20-F.
Sources and References
- Spotify Technology S.A.. (2026). Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed 10 February 2026. Source of all user, subscriber, revenue, margin, profit, ARPU, regulatory and Apple dispute figures and statements in this article.
- European Commission. (2024). Press release IP/24/1161: Commission fines Apple over €1.8 billion over abusive App Store rules for music streaming providers. Source of the anti-steering findings, the order, the ten-year duration and the case dates in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EDGAR filing index for Spotify Technology S.A., used to confirm the filing date and fiscal period.
Note: All figures verified as of November 2026 against Spotify’s fiscal 2025 Form 20-F and the Commission’s press release. Revenue growth over two years, the paid share of monthly users and the cost-of-revenue share are our own calculations. Spotify reports in euros.
