Spotify has paid out more than AU$16.5 billion to the global music industry in 2025, creating the largest annual payment to music creators from any retailer in history and an increase of more than 10% year-on-year.
The figures were shared by Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s head of music, in a post published on the Spotify for Artists blog on January 28, as the company outlined its priorities for artists heading into 2026.
Independent artists drive half of royalties
Hellman said independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties paid out by Spotify last year, underscoring the role streaming continues to play in widening access to music revenue.
“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,” Hellman said.
“Once again, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties.”
He said the scale of the payouts reflects structural change across the industry, rather than abstract growth.
“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,” Hellman said.
“That’s the real shift and extraordinary progress that these numbers represent.”
Streaming growth outpaces wider industry
According to Spotify, the platform now accounts for roughly 30% of global recorded music revenue. In 2025, Spotify’s payouts grew by more than 10%, compared with growth of closer to 4% across other industry income streams.
“At the end of the day, growth is driven by fans,” Hellman said, noting that more than 750 million people worldwide are now paying monthly for music streaming across all services.
He added that Spotify continues to return nearly two-thirds of its revenue to the industry.
“Spotify pays out almost 70% of what we take in,” Hellman said. “As Spotify revenues grow, music payouts have grown as well.”
Investing in tools that help artists cut through
Looking ahead to 2026, Hellman said Spotify’s top priority is helping new music and emerging artists break through an increasingly crowded marketplace, with more than 100,000 new songs released daily.
“One of the reasons we celebrate Best New Artist nominees each year is because they represent something powerful: artists who’ve broken through and found their audience,” he said.
“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.”
Artist storytelling, identity and editorial support
Spotify said it is expanding tools focused on artist storytelling and context, including video, behind-the-scenes content and deeper information about how music is made.
“As AI makes all kinds of content more abundant, human connection has become more valuable, not less,” Hellman said.
The company also plans to introduce changes to artist verification, song credits and identity protection to combat impersonation and low-quality AI-generated content.
“Protecting artists’ identities is a top priority,” Hellman said. “It’s critical to ensuring listeners and rightsholders can trust who made the music they’re hearing.”
Spotify also confirmed it will continue to invest in human editorial curation, with new programs designed to provide sustained support for emerging artists beyond initial playlist placements.
“In a world of highly individualised listening through algorithms, editorial curation gives artists and fans a common cultural reference point,” Hellman said.
Turning listeners into live audiences
Live music remains a key focus, with Spotify stating it has helped generate more than US$1 billion in ticket sales through its ticketing partners to date.
“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,” Hellman said.
In 2026, Spotify plans to introduce new features to help artists convert streaming engagement into real-world support.
Hellman said the music industry now faces unprecedented competition alongside unprecedented opportunity.
“Our focus is ensuring that growth creates clear, reliable paths for artists to reach fans and sustain careers,” he said.
“That’s the standard we’re holding ourselves to in 2026.”