US EditionSpotify Claims It Paid Out More Than $11 Billion To The Music Industry In 2025
Spotify’s $11 billion payout to rights-holders in 2025, a 10% increase over last year, made it the largest contributor to global recorded music revenue growth.
- On Wednesday, Spotify announced it paid $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, calling it the largest annual payout by any retailer, according to the company.
- Driven by subscriber growth and price hikes, Spotify said its payouts grew by over 10% in 2025, aided by premium price $12.99 and reinvestment into product and features.
- According to Spotify's figures, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties, while more than 12,500 artists earned over $100,000 in 2025.
- To counter AI exploitation, Spotify plans to update its artist verification and song credits systems, as Charlie Hellman said, "AI is being exploited by bad actors to flood streaming services with low-quality slop to game the system and attempt to divert royalties away from authentic artists."
- Rights-Holders receive payouts rather than Spotify distributing directly to artists, and complaints from songwriters and publishers continue despite $11 billion in royalties paid in 2025.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Spotify says it paid out $11 billion in royalties in 2025
Today, Spotify announced that it had paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025. It's an impressive-sounding number that's a full $1 billion more than it paid last year. And, according to Spotify, that accounts for roughly 30 percent of the entire recording industry's revenue. And, according to Spotify, that accounts for roughly 30 percent of the entire recording industry's revenue. This figure, however, is purely a measure of …
The platform has given priority to the retention and attractiveness of new artists, since it faces strong competition from other large players, such as YouTube and Apple
Spotify says it made record payout of more than $11 billion to music industry in 2025
Jan 28 (Reuters) – Spotify said on Wednesday it had paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry last year, adding that it was the largest annual payment to music from a retailer in history. The Swedish streaming platform said in a blog post that its payouts in 2025 grew by more than 10% from a year earlier, with independent artists and labels accounting for half of all royalties. The company has been prioritizing retaining and bringi…
Spotify now represents one-third of the music industry's total recorded revenue in 2025
Spotify announced Wednesday that the company now accounts for roughly one-third of the music industry’s recorded music revenue, further cementing its position as the world’s largest music streaming service. The company emphasized that it made the largest single-year payout to the music industry by any retailer ever, with revenue having doubled since 2017."Today, Spotify accounts for roughly 30% of recorded music revenue," Head of Music Charlie …
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