Spotify’s premium subscribers grew 12% to 268 million in Q1 2025, highest growth since 2020

Popular music streaming platform, Spotify has announced that its total monthly active users (MAUs) grew by 10 per cent year-on-year (Y/Y) to 678 million in Q1 2025 while its premium subscriber base grew by 5 million, representing a 12 per cent increase Y/Y, bringing the total to 268 million. The 5 million additions marked the highest quarter since 2020 and the second highest in Spotify’s history. 

According to the quarterly financial statement released by the Swedish-based company on Tuesday, total revenue in Q1 2025 rose by 15 per cent Y/Y to $4.8 billion and a record-high operating income of $528 million which surged by 12.1 per cent. However, the figure was below the company’s projected income of $625 million for the quarter. 

“We are pleased with our performance in Q1, as nearly all of our KPIs were in-line to ahead of guidance. The business added 3 million MAU during the quarter, in-line with our expectations for a seasonally small quarter, while Subscriber net additions of 5 million significantly outperformed guidance by 3 million,” the company said in the report. 

In its revenue breakdown, Spotify explained that its premium revenue witnessed a growth of 16 per cent Y/Y, which was fueled by subscriber gains and ARPU increases, while ad-supported revenue grew by 8 per cent. In profitability, premium gains (from premium subscriptions) were mainly driven by audiobooks and music, with ad-supported gains fueled by podcasts and music. 

Also Read: Spotify said it paid $100m+ to podcasters in Q1 2025 amid audio to video expansion.

During the quarter, Spotify launched the Spotify Partner Program for video podcast creators in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia and expanded to nine new markets in late April. 

The program was designed to provide creators additional ways to monetise their content, offer audience-driven payouts from Spotify Premium video engagement, and the ability to monetise via ads on Spotify Free. The company noted that it’s seeing positive signals that the approach is resonating with creators. 

The Spotify Partner Program saw total earnings for participating creators grow by 23 per cent month-over-month from January to February, and 29 per cent month-over-month from February to March. There was also a significant increase in video podcast adoption, with active monthly video podcasts increasing by 28 per cent since the program launched.

In the quarter, the music streaming giant rolled out Concerts Near You, a new playlist to help drive more concert discovery for users based on listening habits. It also launched its first-ever Spotify Creator Milestone Award, an award for podcasts that reach streaming milestones and set new standards for podcast achievements. Since it entered the podcast space in 2019, more than one billion people have listened to it, according to the company. 

Spotify’s projection for Q2 2025

In its future outlook for the next quarter, the Swedish company projects an 11 million addition of MAUs to 689 million and a premium subscribers’ addition of 5 million to 273 million. Also, it expects an increase in total revenue to $4.9 billion and an operating income of 614 million.  

Spotify continues to solidify its grounds as a top player in the music streaming industry by successfully beating competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music, while also rolling out its AI Playlist offering to over 40 markets, including the Bahamas, Fiji, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Singapore, and more.

Recently, the company has been chasing YouTube with its push into video podcasts, with 330,000 shows now on the platform. It also recently launched the Spotify Partner Program which has paid out more than $100 million to podcast creators in the first quarter. The figure comes amid the rising expansion of the platform’s adoption of music to video content and the first time it paid such fees to its podcasters.

“For the first time, we’re revealing that Spotify paid out more than $100 million to podcast publishers and podcasters worldwide in the first quarter of 2025 alone. This figure reflects our deep commitment to the creator economy and underscores Spotify’s position as a leading platform for audio and video creators alike,” the company said in Monday’s blog post.

In March 2024, Spotify introduced its video streaming platform to Premium users in 11 countries and added 85 more countries in October 2024. According to the company, the audio-to-video expansion is structured to place its creators on a larger scale to earn more, expand their fanbase, and reach a greater audience.