Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, has reported a strong performance in the third quarter of 2025, recording an 11% year-on-year increase in monthly active users (MAUs) to 713 million, surpassing projections of 710.6 million.
The impressive growth was fueled by rising subscriptions and resilient user engagement despite recent price hikes. In August 2025, Spotify increased subscription prices by an average of 9% across multiple regions, including Africa, South Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. The move, however, did not slow down user additions, with the platform still witnessing global subscriber growth.
Revenue and Earnings Surge
Spotify’s revenue rose by 7% to €4.27 billion ($4.9 billion) in Q3 2025, while operating income jumped 43% year-on-year to €582 million. The streaming giant also posted a net profit of €899 million, a sharp turnaround from the €86 million loss recorded in the same quarter of 2024.
The company’s premium subscriber base remained steady and in line with market expectations. However, ad-supported revenue fell by 6% compared to last year due to persistent pricing pressures in the advertising market.
Following the release of the results, Spotify’s shares gained 4.2% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek expressed optimism about the company’s growth prospects, stating, “We have the tools we need — pricing, product innovation, operational leverage, and eventually the ads turnaround to deliver both revenue growth and profit expansion.”
Leadership Transition
In a major leadership reshuffle, Daniel Ek will step down as CEO at the start of 2026 to become Executive Chairman. From January 1, 2026, Spotify will adopt a dual CEO structure, to be led by Gustav Söderström, the current Co-President and Chief Product & Technology Officer, and Alex Norström, Co-President and Chief Business Officer.
At the end of Q3, Spotify’s global workforce stood at 7,323 full-time employees.
Expansion of Advertising Partnerships
Beyond strong financials, Spotify continued to expand its automated advertising ecosystem in Q3. The company launched a strategic collaboration with Amazon DSP, enabling advertisers to access Spotify’s global audio and video inventory using Amazon’s demand-side platform.
This partnership integrates Amazon’s audience data with Spotify’s 696 million active users, helping brands run targeted and measurable campaigns.
Spotify also deepened its programmatic advertising reach by partnering with Yahoo DSP and ID5. Early results from the Yahoo partnership showed conversion rates rising by nearly 70% and cost per action dropping by about 90% between July and September 2025. The ID5 integration, on the other hand, improves audience targeting across Europe.
In another strategic move, the company revealed that starting 2026, Megaphone-hosted podcast publishers will be able to create private marketplace deals via the Spotify Ad Exchange, enhancing monetization flexibility and control for creators.
