Spotify’s Annual Music Payouts Hit Record $11 Billion In 2025, Driven By Streaming Growth

Music streaming giant Spotify reported that it paid out more than $11 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2025, marking the largest annual payout from any retailer in history, the company said in a recent blog post. This figure represents over a 10 % increase from 2024, highlighting continued growth in streaming-driven revenue for artists, labels and rights holders.

According to Spotify’s Head of Music, Charlie Hellman, independent artists and labels received approximately half of all royalties paid last year, underscoring the expanding role of indie creators in the streaming ecosystem. Hellman noted that as Spotify’s revenues have grown, so have the payouts to the music industry, with the platform now accounting for roughly 30 % of recorded music revenue worldwide.

Spotify described the 2025 milestone as not only a historic financial achievement but also a reflection of broader shifts in the music business. With more than 713 million monthly active users reported at the end of the third quarter of 2025, the company said expanding its subscriber base and raising premium prices in several markets contributed to higher payouts and industry-wide growth.

Despite its record payouts, Spotify faces strong competition from other major streaming platforms. YouTube, for example, reported paying more than $8 billion to the music industry over a similar 12-month period. Spotify’s strategy of paying out nearly 70 % of its revenue to rights holders,including labels, distributors and publishers,remains central to its efforts to attract and retain artists while expanding its content offerings to include podcasts, videos and audiobooks.

Industry observers say that although the headline payout figure is significant, it reflects a complex royalty distribution system in which money flows first to rights holders before being shared with individual artists, songwriters and producers,a structure that continues to be debated across the global music business.

Spotify’s record payouts in 2025 signal the increasing dominance of streaming as a revenue driver in the music industry, even as discussions continue around how revenues are shared among the wide ecosystem of creators and rights holders.