Who said Spotify doesn’t pay out? The music streaming monster just reached a significant milestone, paying out a record $10 billion to the music industry in 2024, marking a total contribution of nearly $60 billion since its inception in 2006. The company made this announcement in a blog post on Tuesday, highlighting its ongoing role in reshaping the music landscape.
Here’s the interesting part. The streaming giant also shared a noteworthy statistic: more than 10,000 artists are now earning over $100,000 annually from Spotify. This is a dramatic increase from 2014, when only 10,000 artists were making at least $10,000 per year on the platform, during a time when Spotify had around 15 million subscribers and global recorded music revenues were valued at $13 billion.
David Kaefer, Spotify’s vice president of music business, emphasized the importance of this growth, stating, “It’s because the system we’ve built together is working, and where we are now is only the beginning. Today, there are more than 500 million paying listeners across all music streaming services.” He also set an ambitious goal, noting, “A world with 1 billion paying listeners is a realistic goal we should collectively set.”
What’s more, Kaefer further explained the driving force behind Spotify’s success, saying, “Our goal is to help artists get their work in front of existing and future fans, continue to innovate on their behalf and deliver it in a way that inspires people to pay for it.” He attributed much of the growth in payouts to the increased adoption of paid streaming, adding, “Onboarding people to paid streaming is precisely what has increased our payouts — tenfold — over the past decade.”
When it comes to this update coincides with Spotify’s impressive performance in Q3 2024, where it reached 252 million paid subscribers and 640 million monthly active users (MAUs), with the company on track for its first full year of profitability. Additionally, Spotify revealed that over 60% of its premium tier users were previously on the ad-supported free tier, reflecting a successful transition from free to paid services.
As for looking ahead, Spotify expects its premium subscriber base to grow to 260 million and its MAUs to reach 665 million by the end of Q4 2024. The company will report its full earnings for the quarter on February 4, 2025, before the market opens.
