Spotify saw double-digit growth on its free and paid-subscription tiers for the third quarter of 2025, as the audio streaming delivered results that met or beat Wall Street forecasts.
The company’s added 5 million paid Premium subscribers, up 12% to 281 million. Overall monthly active users grew 11% to 713 million, a better-than-expected 17 million net gain.
Total Spotify Q3 revenue increased 7% to €4.27 billion (or 12% on a constant currency basis) while advertising revenue declined -6% (or flat year-over-year on a constant currency basis). Growth in music and podcast advertising sales — driven by growth in impressions sold — was offset by “softness in pricing and optimization of our podcasting inventory in our Owned & Licensed portfolio,” Spotify said in announcing earnings.
Operating income for Q3 was €582 million, up 43%, and Spotify swung to a €899 million net profit, versus a net loss of €86 million in the year-earlier period.
“The business is healthy. We’re shipping faster than ever,” Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and CEO, said in prepared remarks. “And we have the tools we need — pricing, product innovation, operational leverage, and eventually the ads turnaround — to deliver both revenue growth and profit expansion. It all comes back to user fundamentals and that’s where we are: 700 million users who keep coming back, engagement at all-time highs. We’re building Spotify for the long-term.”
At the start of 2026, Ek is relinquishing his role as CEO to become executive chairman. As of Jan. 1, Spotify will have two co-CEOs: Gustav Söderström, currently co-president and chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer.
At the end of Q3, Spotify had 7,323 full-time employees globally.
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
In Q3, Spotify launched 30 new features and updates for both Free and Premium users, including an enhanced Free tier, playlist mixing tools, lossless audio, a ChatGPT integration and in-app DMs. The overriding goal is to make it easier for users to discover and create content on the platform, while driving engagement and time spent.
Last month, Spotify inked a deal with Netflix to stream a collection of original podcasts on Netflix worldwide. Spotify shows set to come to Netflix starting in 2026 include “The Bill Simmons Podcast” sports and pop-culture interview series; “The Rewatchables” show breaking down classic films; and true-crime series “Serial Killers.”
Meanwhile, Spotify also last month announced a new deal with Amazon that gives advertisers using Amazon DSP programmatic access to Spotify’s streaming audio and video inventory, alongside a similar deal with Yahoo.
For Q4, Spotify expects revenue of €4.5 billion (which would be up 6%) and operating income of €620 million (versus €477 million a year earlier).
The company is forecasting total Q4 user net adds of 32 million MAUs, to reach 745 million by the end of 2025, and to add 8 million paid subs to reach 289 million.
From Variety US