It’s been rumored and rumored for some months, but now it’s official. It’s the big news of the new year in the streaming world: after 19 years of existence, Spotify has become a profitable company. It sounds a bit crazy to write this, but the data is real and has been announced by the company itself. Spotify is profitable: what does this mean for the streaming world?
Soundiiz tells you all about it in this new “news” article.
Spotify is profitable: what happened and how?
The figures are enough to make your head spin. In 2024, Spotify made a net profit of 1.14 billion euros. That’s enough to boost its share by 14% after this announcement. This is the first time in its history since its launch in 2006 that Spotify has generated such a profit. Last year, Spotify announced a one-year loss of 532 million euros. But what was the reason for this?
According to Spotify, the last quarter beat analysts’ forecasts. Spotify Wrapped is responsible, and it’s more successful than ever. Spotify’s marketing and engagement strategy has established itself over the years as a must-attend event, driving many users to subscribe to Spotify, while improving the brand attachment of its subscribers.
Spotify now boasts 675 million active users worldwide, an increase of 12% year-on-year. Of these 675 million active users, 263 million are Premium subscribers, who pay every month to use Spotify. That’s a colossal number!
A clever strategy
Spotify’s strategy of diversification, including substantial investment in podcasts and audiobooks, and the arrival of services linked to BandsInTown – featuring concerts – have finally paid off. By pursuing a long-term strategy and offering Premium services to its subscribers, while constantly improving its algorithm, reputed to be the best in its field, Spotify is more than ever in a dominant position.
The competition, in terms of subscriber numbers, is a long way behind. But that doesn’t mean the gap can’t be closed. If Spotify succeeds in attracting new subscribers, it’s not impossible that its competitors will follow suit. In a context where music streaming is more than ever preferred to radio or television for discovering new artists, the platforms have a bright future ahead of them.
It’s also worth remembering that this surge in profits for Spotify has been accompanied by two important factors: in 2023, almost 17% of its staff were fired, considerably reducing the company’s fixed costs. In all, some 1,500 employees were made redundant. Like its competitors, the Swedish giant has also seen several increases in its monthly subscriptions. Both conditions have undoubtedly boosted profits.
Daniel Ek, Spotify Founder & CEO, stated: “I am very excited about 2025 and feel really good about where we are as both a product and as a business. We will continue to place bets that will drive long term impact, increasing our speed while maintaining the levels of efficiency we achieved last year. It’s this combination that will enable us to build the best and most valuable user experience, grow sustainably and deliver creativity to the world.”
Spotify is profitable : what are the consequences?
The context is not necessarily favorable for Spotify, in terms of its public image. After Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the announcement that Spotify had been one of the actors, many calls for a boycott were heard on social media. Some users even called for subscribers to leave the platform and switch to another music streaming service. Spotify reportedly paid $150,000 for the inauguration ceremony, according to Swedish media outlet Dagens Nyheter. It should also be pointed out that, according to CBS, Apple and Amazon paid almost ten times as much – $1 million each – for the same event.
In addition, an investigation by journalist Liz Pelly revealed that, according to her findings, Spotify was using fake artists to boost or create playlists without paying a single cent to rights holders. These accusations could have far-reaching consequences, considering the extent to which algorithmic playlists have become the lifeblood of music streaming platforms. We’ll come back to this investigation in a future article!
A controversial success story?
In addition to these recent revelations, Spotify is still in the eye of the storm, with many voices raised to denounce the low remuneration granted to artists generating, for some, millions of streams on Spotify. In a press release welcoming Spotify’s new status, Spotify executives claimed that 2024 had been a record year in terms of redistribution: $10 billion in royalties would have been paid out to artists.
These successes are accompanied by several announcements: Spotify intends to continue riding the wave of podcasts by offering an ever-expanding range of podcasts available in video format and viewable ad-free for Premium members. Spotify also promises to make their biggest update yet for content creators, with improved analytics, better monetization and more ways to connect with fans. Engagement, engagement and engagement!
All this comes at a time when Spotify recently announced, at the end of January 2025, a multi-year partnership with Universal Music Group, one of the aims of which is to succeed in distributing more royalties to artists. It’s a subject we’re passionate about, and one we’ll no doubt be talking about in a new blog post!
Transfer your data to or from Spotify with Soundiiz
We’re not going to lie: as a user, you probably don’t care whether Spotify is profitable or not. After all, you may have been using the platform for years, and it’s likely that you’ve never wondered whether it’s making a profit or not. It hasn’t changed the way you use Spotify or your consumption habits. But perhaps you’re also like every other person on this planet: you crave change.
And change, when it comes to music streaming, can mean data loss. What happens if you decide to migrate from Spotify to Apple Music? Or from Spotify to Deezer? From Spotify to TIDAL, YouTube Music or others? Don’t panic: with Soundiiz, you won’t risk losing your data.
Transfer everything!
Our Transfer tool, which we’ve been developing for many years, will enable you to transfer your playlists, likes, albums and artists in just a few minutes, and without losing anything in the process. We perform a matching process between Spotify and the platform of your choice, and copy and paste your data.
The consequence? When you open Apple Music, Deezer or any other platform, it’s almost as if the transfer was invisible to your data! Our free version lets you transfer a couple of hundred files at a time, but if you want to transfer more, you can subscribe to one of our two Premium options.
The advantage is that our services are non-binding. If you want to make a single transfer and unsubscribe, you can. Our aim is to ease your transition and remove the obstacles inherent in data transfers.
You can export your data from Spotify to another music streaming service, but the reverse is, of course, also possible. Soundiiz allows you to transfer your data from any platform to Spotify in the opposite way. In fact, we’ve devoted a tutorial to our Transfer function, which you can follow right here. You’ll see: it’s very simple!
And to try out all that Soundiiz has to offer, click here!
