Spotify paid out a record $11 billion into the music industry last year

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Last year, Spotify paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry, bringing the company’s total payouts since launch to nearly $70 billion.The milestone year reflected the “largest annual payment to music from any retailer in history,” the company announced on Wednesday in a post.In 2025, Spotify’s payout amount grew by over 10%, making the Sweden-based streamer one of the industry’s main revenue drivers.“Big, industry-wide numbers can feel abstract, but that growth is showing up in tangible ways,” wrote Charlie Hellman, the company’s new head of music.

“Despite rampant misinformation about how streaming is working today, the reality is that this is an era full of more success stories and promise than at any point in history.”When music streaming was first introduced, there was some controversy about how much artists earn from streams.According to Spotify, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties.

Additionally, the company said there are currently more artists earning over $100,000 a year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on shelves at the height of the compact disc era.Hollywood Inc.

After winning the inaugural podcast award at the Golden Globes and premiering a video podcast on Netflix, the music streamer is raising its price in the U.S.Founded in 2006, the company, with a large presence in L.A.’s Arts District, has become the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service.The platform offers access to over 100 million tracks, podcasts and audiobooks in over 180 markets.At the top of the year, founder Daniel Ek moved from his CEO position to become executive chairman.

Spotify named two co-CEOs, Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, in his place.This month, Spotify raised prices for its premium subscribers in the U.S., bringing the costto $12.99 per month.Hellman disclosed that as Spotify’s au...