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Leading the music streaming industry, Spotify was started by Martin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek in Sweden in 2006. Spotify statistics demonstrate that during its 16-year reign, the platform has led a revolution, fueling the change from buying individual tracks and albums online to streaming them via the subscription model. Thereby setting the standard for many other music services and streaming businesses we know and love today.
Spotify’s streaming service heralds a huge shift within the music industry and doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. Indeed, it looks like Spotify has much to teach others in the business, as well as those looking to echo its success. However, don’t just take our word for it; check out all the fascinating Spotify information we were able to dig out.
Just as you may expect from a market leader like Spotify, there are some pretty impressive statistics associated with its name:
Below you’ll find statistics that’ll better help you understand Spotify’s operation and success.
(Demand Sage)
This is despite the misinformation controversy over Joe Rogan’s podcast, which caused many artists, including Neil Young, to request their music be taken down from the platform.
(Appinventiv)
One thing that sets Spotify apart from other streaming platforms is that it has acquired a wealth of other businesses. Its most recent acquisition is Whooshkaa in December 2021, which makes a total of 24!
(Appinventiv)
While many people choose to listen to Spotify on their iOS or Android smartphones, Spotify’s reach doesn’t end there. There are also versions for tablets, computers, and laptops running MacOS and Windows.
If you are wondering how much money does Spotify make, check the statistics below:
(Spotify)
Spotify revenue is constantly growing. In 2016 Spotify revenue was €2.95 billion.
(Statista)
This is a revenue increase of €7.88 billion from 2020. Most of it came from premium subscriptions.
Here is Spotify annual revenue growth from 2016 to 2022:
Year | Annual Revenue, in billion euros | Ad Revenue, in million euros | Premium Revenue, in million euros |
2016 | 2.945 | 295 | 2,657 |
2017 | 4.090 | 416 | 3,674 |
2018 | 5.259 | 542 | 4,717 |
2019 | 6.764 | 678 | 6,086 |
2020 | 7.880 | 745 | 7,135 |
2021 | 9.668 | 1,208 | 8,460 |
2022 (Q1-Q3) | 8.561 | 1,027 | 7,534 |
(Spotify)
Advertising brings in only 10-12% of Spotify total revenue. Premium subscribers are Spotify major source of income.
(Statista)
This number is predicted to grow to over €2 billion by 2026. Spotify's advertising revenue growth is led by podcasting.
While Spotify’s revenue is high, you can see from the statistics below it continues to operate at a loss.
(Statista, Spotify)
Despite this impressive increase in revenue, Spotify has yet to declare a profit. Instead, 2021’s figures showed a net loss of around €39 million, which at first glance may call its success into question. The firm cites high operating costs like marketing and content rights as the cause.
Here you can find out Spotify Profit (Loss) from 2009 to 2022:
Year | Spotify Net Income (Loss), in million euros |
2009 | -18.8 |
2010 | -28.5 |
2011 | -45.4 |
2012 | -83.6 |
2013 | -63 |
2014 | -188 |
2015 | -230 |
2016 | -539 |
2017 | -1235 |
2018 | -78 |
2019 | -186 |
2020 | -581 |
2021 | -39 |
2022 (Q1-Q3) | -160 |
Spotify still holds a large share of the music streaming market, but the stats below show it shrinking over time.
(MIDiA Research)
By the Q2 of 2022, the entire music streaming market consisted of more than 616.2 million paying subscribers, up 7.1% from 2021. Spotify users account for a massive 187.8 million of those.
(MIDiA Research)
Despite controlling over 30% of the market share of music streamers, Spotify’s overall share has been falling since 2018, when it was 42.7%, compared to the 32% of the total market it had in 2021.
Here you can find out music streaming market shares in 2022:
Service | Number of Subscribers, in millions | Market Share, % |
Spotify | 187.8 | 30.5 |
Apple Music | 84.7 | 13.7 |
Tencent Music | 82.7 | 13.4 |
Amazon Music | 82.2 | 13.3 |
YouTube Music | 55.1 | 8.9 |
NetEase | 37.6 | 6.1 |
Yandex | 13.7 | 2.2 |
Deezer | 9.5 | 1.5 |
Others | 62.8 | 10.2 |
(Spotify)
The number of active users on Spotify grew from 422 million at the beginning of 2022 to 456 million in the third quarter of 2022. At the same time, Spotify’s premium subscriber base has also been increasing to 195 million users.
The table below represents Spotify users growth from 2015 to 2022:
Year | Number of Monthly Active Users, in millions |
Q4, 2015 | 91 |
Q4, 2016 | 123 |
Q4, 2017 | 160 |
Q4, 2018 | 207 |
Q4, 2019 | 271 |
Q4, 2020 | 345 |
Q4, 2021 | 406 |
Q3, 2022 | 456 |
(Spotify)
The number of Spotify premium users is increasing year over year. At the end of 2021, there were 180 million premium subscribers.
See below how the number of premium Spotify users has grown from 2015 to 2022:
Year | Number of Spotify Premium Subscribers, in millions |
Q4, 2015 | 28 |
Q4, 2016 | 48 |
Q4, 2017 | 71 |
Q4, 2018 | 96 |
Q4, 2019 | 124 |
Q4, 2020 | 155 |
Q4, 2021 | 180 |
Q3, 2022 | 195 |
(Source: Spotify)
The majority of Spotify users are from European countries: 31% of monthly active users and 39% of premium subscribers.
The table below shows the number of Spotify users by region:
Region | Monthly Active Users | Premium Subscribers |
Europe | 141(31%) | 76(39%) |
North America | 100(22%) | 55(28%) |
Latin America | 96(21%) | 41(21%) |
Rest of World | 119(26%) | 23(12%) |
The platform’s number of users continues to increase, with males and those between 25 - 34 making up the majority of the Spotify user base. The company’s target market tends to be in the millennial range.
(Statista)
Another 44% of Spotify users are females.
(Statista)
29% of all Spotify users are within the 25-34 age range, making Spotify’s target audience mainly millennials. This compares to 26% in the 18-24 age range and a mere 11% in the 45-54 age range (all within the US).
Check out the table below for Spotify age demographics:
Age | Percentage of Spotify Users, % |
18-24 | 26 |
25-34 | 29 |
35-44 | 16 |
45-54 | 11 |
55+ | 19 |
(Forrester)
Most Spotify subscribers aren't planning to leave the platform as it is difficult to find another brand with the same features.
(Whistleout)
If you are streaming with low sound quality then the data usage will be 10MB per hour. For very high-quality data usage will grow up to 150MB per hour.
Find out Spotify data usage depending on your settings:
Low Quality | Normal Quality | High Quality | Very High Quality | |
10 minutes | 1.8MB | 7.2MB | 12MB | 24MB |
1 hour | 1.8MB | 7.2MB | 12MB | 24MB |
Month | 500MB | 1,900MB | 3,200MB | 6,400MB |
While it’s available across a range of devices, people are still most likely to stream Spotify on their smartphones.
(Spotify)
Spotify premium users can enjoy platform services with more extra features, like higher-quality sound, ad-free listening, etc.
(Appinventiv)
52% of users are accessing the platform through their smartphones, while only 10% are listening via tablets.
(Appinventiv)
Yes, that’s right – there are some tracks on Spotify that have been played a billion times or more. Statistics from 2022 list Rockstar, Havana, Shape of You, and Closer as breaching the billon-time playlist.
(Goodwater Capital)
Even with so many tracks on offer, Spotify helps its audience find new songs by offering curated playlists. These can be based around any theme – from genres to moods and even star signs! These playlists make up 31% of the total user listening time. At least half of that number is attributed to personalized playlists Spotify creates from the individual history of each subscriber.
(Billboard)
A somewhat tragic fact about Spotify is that it currently hosts around 4 million tracks that have yet to be listened to. Of course, this shows that presence on the platform alone is not enough for success when it comes to recording artists.
While the above Spotify facts clearly show the platform’s dominance over the music streaming industry, it’s interesting to note that not all is as it may seem. Indeed, by drilling down into the statistics, we can see the contrast between Spotify’s ever-increasing listener and revenue numbers and its profits. So, no matter how large its subscriber base and market share, one can’t help but wonder about the profitability and long-term sustainability of Spotify’s model.
Martin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek launched Spotify in Sweden in 2006. This means Spotify has been operating for 16 years as of 2022.
Canadian rapper Drake holds the most streamed artist on Spotify crown. He currently has over 40 billion plays!
Despite Drake being the most-streamed artist on Spotify, it’s not his song that’s the most streamed overall. Instead, the honor goes to Ginger Brit and everybody’s favorite boy next door – Ed Sheeran – with his smash hit Shape of You. The Shape of You track has currently been played more than 3 billion times!
Although most intensively used in North America, Spotify is available in 171 countries worldwide.
Almost half of all users listen to Spotify every day.
Yes! Besides music and video, the Spotify platform also hosts a ton of podcasts. Currently, there are 3.2 million podcasts on offer.
Spotify statistics prove that artists do get paid. Yet, how much they earn depends on the artist. Typical fees range from $0.006- $0.00318 per stream. Of course, this means that for artists to make decent money, they need to both negotiate a favorable rate and ensure as many streams of their tracks as possible.
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