From $11B in 2025 Payouts to What We're Building for Artists in 2026

Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify's Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify For Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025 (up more than 10% from 2024), the largest annual payment to music creators from any retailer in history.

I'm Charlie, and I lead Spotify's music team. As we look at 2026, I want to start with where 2025 landed.

I'm proud to share that, last year alone, Spotify paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry, the largest annual payment to music from any retailer in history. Once again, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties.

Big, industry-wide numbers can feel abstract, but that growth is showing up in tangible ways. For example, there are now more artists generating over $100k/year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on record store shelves at the height of the CD era. That's the real shift and extraordinary progress that these numbers represent. Despite rampant misinformation about how streaming is working today, the reality is that this is an era full of more success stories and promise than at any point in history.

Today, Spotify accounts for roughly 30% of recorded music revenue. Last year, our payouts grew by more than 10%, while other industry income sources grew by closer to 4%, making Spotify the primary driver of industry revenue growth in 2025.

At the end of the day, growth is driven by fans. More than 750 million people around the world are now paying every month for music streaming, across all streaming services. As that audience has grown, we've also raised prices. Since Spotify pays out two-thirds of all music revenue to the industry - almost 70% of what we take in - as Spotify revenues grow, music payouts have grown as well.

What about the other third - the money Spotify keeps? That's been our fuel to reinvest directly into the platform in ways that drive more people to pay for music streaming and continue to grow revenues for music. By doing all we can to innovate on behalf of the music industry, we've been able to deliver an unrivaled listening experience, helping connect artists with listeners who are most likely to care about their music.

One of the reasons we celebratethe Best New Artist nominees each year is because they represent something powerful: artists who've broken through and found their audience. But the path to that moment is steep. With over 100,000 new songs released daily, competing against the entire history of recorded music, emerging artists face an unprecedented challenge in building the early fanbase every successful career needs. We're working across multiple fronts to increase the opportunities available, and ensure more artists have real pathways to success. That's why this year our number one priority is to help more new music and new artists cut through the noise and form real connections with fans. Here's what we're building:

Artist Storytelling & Video

As AI makes all kinds of content more abundant, human connection has become morevaluable, not less. Helping fans better understand who artists are and what inspires them establishes real connections that turn casual listeners into long-term fans. To support that, we're bringing more context into the listening experience, whether that's information about the artist, the story behind a song, or moments that show how the music actually comes together. With the upcoming launch of SongDNA, for example, fans can explore the collaborations behind a song-like Addison Rae's breakout work with Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd-and follow those connections deeper into the music. Before long, you're finding your way into new catalogs, like Kloser's work with Ed Sheeranor Anderfjärd's work with Alec Benjamin.

Video also plays a big role in storytelling, and we've only scratched the surface. Especially now, authenticity matters more than production value. A live performance, a stripped-down version, a rehearsal, or a moment from the studio - those make the connection real. For KATSEYE, early behind-the-scenes Clips on their Countdown Page fueled anticipation by bringing fans into the journey leading up to the release of BEAUTIFUL CHAOS.

Artist Identity & Trust

Storytelling helps fans understand who's behind the music, and ensures authentic creativity stands out from anonymous filler. But that's not enough on its own. Protecting artists' identities is a top priority, and we're building new solutions to prevent impersonation, scams, and mismatched content.

AI is being exploited by bad actors to flood streaming services with low-quality slop to game the system and attempt to divert royalties away from authentic artists. So we're going to introduce changes to the systems for artist verification, song credits, and protecting artist identity. It's critical to ensuring listeners and rightsholders can trust who made the music they're hearing.

Human Editorial

When artists start to connect with fans on Spotify, sustaining that attention becomes the next challenge. The tools artists already use in Spotify for Artists are built for exactly that, and in 2026 we're sharpening them in ways that serve new releases especially.

Every developing artist is looking to break out. And being added to a hand-selected editorial playlist can mark a turning point for an artist, growing exposure and streams to new heights. For Leon Thomas, pitchingsongs through Spotify for Artists led to editorial placements on RADARand RNB X, introducing his music to listeners in more than 180 countries.

Even more important than the numbers they drive, these playlists reflect human expert opinion. In a world of highly individualized listening through algorithms, editorial curation gives artists and fans a common cultural reference point.

In 2026, you'll see us create new programs where editorial can unlock more sustained support for emerging artists that help turn early recognition into ongoing momentum. And we'll bring more of the human voice behind that curation into the listening experience. We've already started experimentingwith this by bringing our music editors forward through video and storytelling, where they share why a song resonated and what stood out about an artist. For artists, that means more opportunities for their music and story to come to life for listeners.

Live Shows

We believe that as fans go deeper into an artist's world on Spotify, that connection shouldn't live only online. Showing up to support an artist in person has always been one of the strongest forms of fandom, and one of the most important income streams for artists.

Spotify helps ensure rooms are not only filled, but filled with true fans. By understanding how listeners connect with your music, we help artists reach the fans who care most, and are most likely to buy tickets.

To date, Spotify has helped artists generate more than $1 billion in ticket sales by connecting fans with live shows through our ticketing partners. In 2026, we're building on that strength with new features that will help more artists turn listening into tangible support from their fans.

You've built communities, taken risks, and kept going even when the path felt uncertain. It's our job to make sure Spotify works as hard as you do, and keeps growing in ways that better support artists who are serious about building a career. Unprecedented competition alongside unprecedented opportunity defines today's music industry. Our focus is ensuring that growth creates clear, reliable paths for artists to reach fans, and sustain careers.

That's the standard we're holding ourselves in 2026.

There's a lot of work ahead and I'm excited about what we can build together this year.

Charlie