Spotify paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, the largest annual payment to music creators from any retailer in history, Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s Head of Music, announced today. The payout represents a more than 10 percent increase from 2024, with independent artists and labels accounting for half of all royalties. Hellman shared that there are now more artists generating over $100,000 per year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on record store shelves at the height of the CD era. “Despite rampant misinformation about how streaming is working today, the reality is that this is an era full of more success stories and promise than at any point in history,” Hellman stated. Spotify accounts for roughly 30 percent of recorded music revenue, with last year’s payouts growing by more than 10 percent while other industry income sources grew by closer to 4 percent, making Spotify the primary driver of industry revenue growth in 2025.
More than 750 million people around the world are now paying every month for music streaming across all services. Spotify pays out two thirds of all music revenue to the industry, almost 70 percent of what the company takes in, meaning as Spotify revenues grow, music payouts grow as well. For 2026, Spotify’s number one priority is helping more new music and new artists cut through the noise and form real connections with fans. The company is launching SongDNA, allowing fans to explore the collaborations behind songs, such as Addison Rae’s breakout work with Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd, and follow those connections deeper into music catalogs. Spotify is also introducing changes to systems for artist verification, song credits, and protecting artist identity to combat AI-generated content flooding the platform. The company has helped artists generate more than $1 billion in ticket sales to date by connecting fans with live shows through ticketing partners.