Spotify reported that it ended the fourth quarter of 2025 with 751 million monthly active users, marking an 11 percent increase compared with the same period a year earlier. The figure also represents a notable step up from the previous quarter, when the platform reported 713 million monthly users, reinforcing the company’s steady expansion across global markets.
Alongside overall user growth, Spotify’s latest earnings update showed continued gains in paid subscriptions. Premium subscribers rose 10 percent year over year, increasing from 263 million to 290 million. Europe remains the company’s largest region for paid users, accounting for 36 percent of total premium subscriptions, while North America follows at 25 percent. These figures highlight Spotify’s continued reliance on mature markets even as it pushes for broader adoption elsewhere.
Company leadership attributed part of this growth to ongoing product development, including its use of artificial intelligence. Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s co-chief executive officer and chief product and technology officer, framed the company’s role as an early adopter and tester of emerging technologies for the wider music industry. He suggested that faster experimentation with new tools could offer advantages in a shifting digital landscape, particularly as AI-driven features become more common across streaming platforms.
That stance has not been without adjustment. In late 2025, Spotify acknowledged concerns around low-quality, AI-generated content on its service and said it would remove some of that material while shifting toward what it described as artist-focused AI tools. Details on how those tools would work or how they would directly benefit musicians were limited, leaving questions about how the company plans to balance automation, creativity, and creator compensation.
Spotify also pointed to seasonal engagement as a contributing factor to its performance. December’s annual Spotify Wrapped campaign, which summarizes listening habits for users at the end of the year, has become a recurring driver of attention and social sharing for the platform. While the company did not disclose specific metrics tied to Wrapped in this report, it has historically credited the feature with boosting engagement and keeping users active during the final quarter.
Taken together, the latest numbers suggest Spotify is maintaining momentum through a mix of subscriber growth, regional strength, and product-driven engagement. At the same time, the company faces ongoing scrutiny around its approach to AI, artist relations, and long-term revenue sustainability. As the streaming market matures, Spotify’s challenge will be less about reaching new users and more about retaining them while navigating evolving expectations from both listeners and creators.
