Spotify is a global leader in audio streaming, offering a subscription-based and ad-supported platform that connects users with a vast library of music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Operating in 184 countries and territories, Spotify provides access to over 100 million music tracks, 6.5 million podcast titles, and a growing catalog of audiobooks. The company monetizes its services through subscriptions and advertising, catering to both individual users and content creators.
- Premium Segment - Offers subscription-based access to a vast library of music, podcasts, and audiobooks, providing an ad-free experience and additional features for subscribers.
- Ad-Supported Segment - Generates revenue through advertising across music and podcast content, allowing users to access the platform for free with ads.
- Audiobooks - Provides a catalog of over 350,000 audiobooks available for à la carte purchase, with Premium Subscribers in select markets receiving monthly access to a curated selection.
You might also like
| Name | Position | External Roles | Short Bio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Daniel Ek ExecutiveBoard | Founder, CEO, Chairman, and Director | Board member of private companies; Co-founder of Prima Materia | Founder of Spotify, guiding its vision and strategy since 2006. Previously founded Advertigo and held senior roles at Tradera and Stardoll. | View Report → |
Alex Norström Executive | Co-President and Chief Business Officer | None | Oversees Spotify's subscriber and advertising businesses. Joined Spotify in 2011 and held roles such as Chief Freemium Business Officer and VP of Growth. | |
Christian Luiga Executive | Chief Financial Officer | Board member of Axfood AB | Appointed CFO in 2024. Previously Deputy CEO and CFO at Saab AB and held leadership roles at Telia Company AB. | |
Dustee Jenkins Executive | Chief Public Affairs Officer | Board member of Tech:NYC and New York Women in Communications | Leads external communications, government affairs, and trust and safety at Spotify. Formerly SVP at Target and held roles in public strategies and government communications. | |
Gustav Söderström Executive | Co-President and Chief Product & Technology Officer | Startup seed investor | Responsible for Spotify's global product and technology strategy. Joined Spotify in 2009 and previously served as Chief R&D Officer. | |
Katarina Berg Executive | Chief Human Resources Officer | Board member of Personio GmbH; Advisory board member of Bambuser AB | Oversees HR strategy at Spotify. Previously held HR roles at Swedbank, 3 Scandinavia, and Kanal 5. | |
Christopher Marshall Board | Lead Independent Director | Board member of Payoneer Global, Inc. and Nerdy, Inc.; General Partner at TCV | Lead Independent Director since 2015. Chairs the People Experience and Compensation Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. | |
Heidi O’Neill Board | Director | Board member of Hyatt Hotels Corporation | President of Consumer, Product, and Brand at Nike, Inc. Joined Spotify's board in 2017. | |
Martin Lorentzon Board | Director | Founder of Tradedoubler | Co-founder of Spotify and former Chairman of the Board (2008–2016). Played a key role in Spotify's global expansion. | |
Mona Sutphen Board | Director | Partner at The Vistria Group; Trustee of Putnam Mutual Funds; Board member of Novata and Unitek Learning | Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under President Obama. Joined Spotify's board in 2021. | |
Padmasree Warrior Board | Director | President and CEO of Fable Group; Board member of Mahindra & Mahindra | Former CTO at Cisco and CEO of NIO USA. Founded Fable Group in 2019. Joined Spotify's board in 2017. | |
Shishir Mehrotra Board | Director | CEO of Grammarly, Inc. | Joined Spotify's board in 2017. Former CEO and Co-Founder of Coda, Inc., and held leadership roles at YouTube and Microsoft. | |
Ted Sarandos Board | Director | Co-CEO of Netflix; Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | Co-CEO of Netflix since 2000. Joined Spotify's board in 2016. | |
Thomas Staggs Board | Director | Co-CEO of Candle Media LLC; Partner at Smash Capital Advisors LP; Chairman of PureForm Global Inc. | Former COO of Disney. Joined Spotify's board in 2017. |
- Your Q1 guidance shows a significant slowdown in MAU and subscriber growth compared to the strong Q4; can you explain the factors driving this deceleration and how confident are you in achieving your full-year growth targets?
- Advertising revenue grew only 6% year-over-year in Q4, which seems modest; what challenges are you facing in the advertising business, and when do you expect your investments in programmatic advertising to contribute meaningfully to revenue growth?
- You've mentioned that gross margin improvements in 2025 will be at a more moderated pace due to targeted investments; could you provide more details on these investments and how they might impact your profitability throughout the year?
- With the shift to offering ad-free video podcasts for Premium users and paying creators directly, how are you balancing the increased content costs with potential subscriber gains, and what impact do you anticipate on your margins?
- Given your strong cash position and first full year of profitability, how are you evaluating capital allocation between reinvesting in the business and returning capital to shareholders, especially considering your statement about prioritizing the business first?
Research analysts who have asked questions during Spotify Technology earnings calls.
Justin Patterson
KeyBanc Capital Markets
5 questions for SPOT
Jessica Reif Ehrlich
Bank of America Securities
4 questions for SPOT
Rich Greenfield
LightShed Partners
4 questions for SPOT
Doug Anmuth
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
3 questions for SPOT
Eric Sheridan
Goldman Sachs
3 questions for SPOT
Richard Kramer
Arete Research
3 questions for SPOT
Maria Ripps
Morgan Stanley
2 questions for SPOT
Matt Thornton
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
2 questions for SPOT
Michael Morris
Guggenheim Partners
2 questions for SPOT
Batya Levi
UBS
1 question for SPOT
Ben Black
Deutsche Bank
1 question for SPOT
Benjamin Black
Deutsche Bank AG
1 question for SPOT
Benjamin Swinburne
Morgan Stanley
1 question for SPOT
Ben Swinburne
Morgan Stanley
1 question for SPOT
Bryan Kraft
Deutsche Bank AG
1 question for SPOT
Deepak Mathivan
Wolfe Research
1 question for SPOT
Deepak Mathivanan
Cantor Fitzgerald
1 question for SPOT
Douglas Anmuth
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
1 question for SPOT
Eric Handler
Roth Capital Partners, LLC
1 question for SPOT
Jason Bazinet
Citigroup
1 question for SPOT
Jason Helfstein
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
1 question for SPOT
Jesperi Verlick
Wells Fargo Securities
1 question for SPOT
Kannan Venkateshwar
Barclays PLC
1 question for SPOT
Mark Mahaney
Evercore ISI
1 question for SPOT
Stephen Ju
UBS
1 question for SPOT
Notable M&A activity and strategic investments in the past 3 years.
| Company | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
Sonantic Limited | 2022 | Spotify acquired Sonantic Limited for €93 million in cash, with the deal structured under the acquisition method and involving allocations of €66 million in goodwill and €31 million in intangible assets, to enhance its AI text-to-speech capabilities. |
Findaway World, LLC | 2022 | Spotify purchased Findaway World, LLC for €117 million in cash to accelerate its audiobook content offering, with detailed purchase price allocations including €83-84 million in goodwill and various current assets and liabilities, enhancing its Ad-Supported segment. |
Podsights | 2022 | In February 2022, Spotify’s acquisition of Podsights (part of a combined deal with Chartable) for €83 million in cash involved key allocations of €59 million in goodwill and €26 million in intangible assets, and was aimed at improving podcast ad measurement and analytics services. |
Chartable | 2022 | Also acquired in February 2022 as part of the combined Chartable and Podsights deal, this acquisition allocated €59 million to goodwill and included contingent cash and equity payments, strategically enhancing Spotify’s podcast advertising capabilities in its Ad-Supported segment. |
Recent press releases and 8-K filings for SPOT.
- Daniel Ek, Spotify's founder, CEO, and chairman, will transition to the role of Executive Chairman at the beginning of 2026.
- Current Co-Presidents, Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström, will step into the roles of Co-CEOs starting in 2026, reporting to Daniel Ek.
- Alex Norström will oversee Business, Markets, and Content, while Gustav Söderström will be responsible for Product and Technology.
- The Co-CEOs have also been nominated to join Spotify's board, pending shareholder approvals.
- Daniel Ek's new role will involve focusing on long-term strategic decisions and being more actively involved than a typical U.S. chairman.
- Daniel Ek will transition from Chief Executive Officer to Executive Chairman of Spotify Technology S.A., effective January 1, 2026.
- Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström will be promoted to co-Chief Executive Officers of Spotify Technology S.A., also effective January 1, 2026.
- Messrs. Norström and Söderström have been nominated to join the Board of Directors, subject to shareholder approval.
- Spotify announced that Founder and CEO Daniel Ek will transition to Executive Chairman, and Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström will become co-Chief Executive Officers, effective January 1, 2026.
- As Executive Chairman, Ek will focus on capital allocation and mapping the long-term future of Spotify, while Norström and Söderström will lead strategic development and operational execution, formalizing a structure that has largely been in place since 2023.
- Vibe.co closed $50 million in Series B financing, led by Hedosophia, bringing its total valuation to $410 million.
- The company, an ad platform for hyper-targeting on connected TV (CTV), has achieved a $100 million revenue run rate in less than two years and anticipates becoming profitable by the end of the year.
- The new capital will be used to accelerate Vibe.co's proprietary AI product roadmap, enhancing generative and agentic AI capabilities for media buying and creative production.
- Nirav Tolia, CEO of Nextdoor, has joined Vibe.co’s board of directors.
- Spotify plans to raise subscription prices for premium individual subscriptions in various markets, including Europe, with prices increasing from 10.99 euros to 11.99 euros per month.
- This strategy is intended to fund investments in new features and expand Spotify's user base to 1 billion.
- According to Co-President and Chief Business Officer Alex Norstrom, these price adjustments, combined with recent cost-cutting measures, helped Spotify achieve its first annual profit.
- PodcastOne reported record Q1 Fiscal 2026 revenue of $14.994 million, a 14% increase from Q1 Fiscal 2025 revenue of $13.159 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 Fiscal 2026 was $0.580 million, a significant improvement from a loss of $0.316 million in Q1 Fiscal 2025.
- For Fiscal 2026, PodcastOne anticipates revenue between $55 million and $60 million and Adjusted EBITDA between $3 million and $5 million.
- The company expanded its network by adding 14 new podcasts in Q1 Fiscal 2026 and saw an over 200% surge in video views year-over-year.
- Spotify's stock rallied 138% in 2023 and an additional 138% in 2024.
- By late June, the stock reached an all-time high of $785, representing a 75% year-to-date gain.
- Following its Q2 report, Spotify's stock dropped 11.5%, adding to an approximate 10% decline from its high before the report, resulting in a total drop of almost 18% from its peak.
- The company maintains a user base of nearly 700 million.
- Spotify Technology S.A. reported revenue of €4,193 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, an increase from €3,807 million for the same period in 2024. However, the company recorded a net loss attributable to owners of the parent of €86 million (or €0.42 basic loss per share) for Q2 2025, compared to a net income of €274 million (or €1.37 basic earnings per share) in Q2 2024.
- As of June 30, 2025, Monthly Active Users (MAUs) grew 11% year-over-year to 696 million, and Premium Subscribers increased 12% year-over-year to 276 million.
- The net loss in Q2 2025 was primarily due to finance costs of €447 million, largely driven by fair value movements on Exchangeable Notes.
- Subsequent to the reporting period, on July 29, 2025, the board of directors approved an increase in the company's share repurchase program by an additional $1.0 billion.
- An update on legal proceedings noted that the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice on January 29, 2025, though the MLC filed a request to file an amended complaint on April 1, 2025. If the MLC were entirely successful in its case, potential additional royalties could be approximately €256 million.
- Oppenheimer has upgraded Spotify's stock rating from Perform to Outperform, setting a price target of $800.
- The $800 price target is based on 20 times their 2030 earnings estimate of $52.53, discounted at 7% annually, and includes assumptions of €20 billion in share buybacks and €17 billion in cash holdings by 2030.
- Analysts forecast Spotify to add around 75 million net new users annually from 2026 to 2030, with revenue growth expected at 16% annually through 2030.
- Spotify recorded its first full year of profitability earlier in 2025, with the first quarter showing 12% year-over-year subscriber growth to 268 million and a 4 percentage point increase in gross profit margin to 31.6%.
- Robust Q1 2025 performance: Consolidated revenue reached €4.2bn (up 15% YoY), with net income of €225M, operating income of €509M, and basic EPS of €1.10
- Healthy cash flow: Q1 Free Cash Flow hit €534M, underscoring operational strength
- Revenue drivers: Premium revenue—accounting for about 90% of total revenue—grew 16% YoY, while Ad-Supported revenue increased 8%
- User growth: Total MAUs climbed to 678M and Premium Subscribers reached 268M (up 12% YoY)
- Strategic initiatives: Accelerated product rollouts, including a new monetization system for video podcasters (payouts over €100M), plus expansion of the Spotify Partner Program and enhanced ad solutions
- Positive outlook: Q2 guidance projects 689M MAU, 273M subscribers, and €4.3bn in revenue amid a €100M currency headwind