Spotify reached 290 million paid subscribers in its fourth quarter, up 10 percent year over year.
Overall, monthly active users hit 751 million, an increase of 38 million, marking the highest number of net adds in Spotify’s history. Both users’ numbers were above Spotify’s guidance. The company attributed the growth in monthly active users to a successful Wrapped campaign, as well as enhancements to the free tier on mobile.
Total revenue reached €4.5 billion, in line with Spotify’s guidance, while operating income reached €701 million, above expectations. Shares were up 10 percent in pre-market trading Tuesday.
Ad-supported revenue declined 4 percent year over year. Music advertising saw growth in impressions sold, but this was offset by softness in pricing. Podcasting growth grew sponsorships, but this was “partially offset by optimization of our podcasting inventory.”
The company now reports more than 530,000 video podcasts, as it continues its big push toward video. Spotify also features more than 500,000 audiobooks in English language markets.
Spotify expects 759 million total monthly active users in the first quarter, up eight million from the fourth quarter, and 293 million paid subscribers, up 3 million. Total revenue is expected to remain around €4.5 billion, while operating income will fall to €660 million due to €10 million in social charges.
As of Jan. 1, Spotify founder Daniel Ek has stepped down as CEO to become Executive Chairman. Gustav Söderström, former chief product & technology officer and Alex Norström, chief business officer, are now co-CEOs.
“We closed out what we dubbed as the Year of Accelerated Execution with another solid quarter, delivering a strong finish to 2025. In Q4, we met or exceeded guidance across all key metrics. We marked our highest quarter ever for MAU net additions. It’s incredible to think that we now serve over three quarters of a billion people around the world.…We’re framing 2026 as the Year of Raising Ambition. We were founded to solve what felt like the impossible, and ambition has been the driving force behind our success from our earliest days. And ambition will be a guiding principle of our next chapter,” said Alex Norström, Co-CEO.
More to come.
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