The number of users of the global music streaming platform Spotify topped 750 million in the fourth quarter of last year, hitting a record high on a quarterly basis. The surge appears to have been driven by new features added to the free plan and the popularity of the year-end settlement of account campaign "Wrapped."
Spotify said on the 10th (local time) that new users in the fourth quarter of last year increased by 38 million, bringing monthly active users (MAU) to 751 million. That was up 11% from a year earlier. Paying subscribers rose by 9 million to 290 million.
Helped by higher subscription fees and a larger user base, fourth-quarter results also improved. Revenue rose 7% from a year earlier to 4.53 billion euros (about 7.85 trillion won). The company said this was due to an 8% increase in subscription revenue. Net income was 1.17 billion euros (about 2 trillion won), roughly tripling from 367 million euros a year earlier. It jumped sharply.
However, ad-based business revenue fell 4% to 518 million euros (about 898.5 billion won). Gross margin, a key metric investors use to gauge profitability improvement, hit a record high of 33.1% on increased sales of podcast and music ads.
The results mark the first since Spotify founder Daniel Ek stepped down as chief executive officer (CEO) and the company embarked on a new path under co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström.
Co-CEO Norström said, "Spotify has made 2025 a 'year of boosting execution,' and 2026 will be a 'year of pursuing bigger goals.'"
Launched in 2006 as a music streaming service, Spotify has since expanded into podcasts, audiobooks and even offline bookstores. It provided music videos and video podcasts in the app and added social features such as group chats and sharing what you are currently listening to, pulling out all the stops to attract users. Users can also book concert tickets through Spotify and check "behind-the-scenes stories" that explain how songs were made.