Spotify has once again proven why it remains the world’s biggest music streaming platform. The company announced that it now has 713 million monthly active users, marking an 11% year-on-year increase as of the third quarter of 2025. 

This growth not only surpassed projections of 710.6 million users but also highlights Spotify’s strong global reach and loyal subscriber base.

Despite recent subscription price hikes of about 9% across multiple regions including South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, the platform’s user numbers still climbed. 

This growth suggests that listeners are willing to pay a bit more for Spotify’s vast music and podcast collection, personalized recommendations, and ease of access.

The company’s revenue rose by 7% to reach €4.27 billion ($4.9 billion), with premium subscribers performing roughly in line with market expectations. Spotify’s strong performance also boosted investor confidence, its shares gained over 4% in premarket trading following the report.

Financially, the third quarter was a big win. The company posted an operating income of €582 million, a 43% increase compared to the same period last year. Even more impressive, Spotify recorded a net profit of €899 million, a huge turnaround from the €86 million loss it reported in Q3 2024.

However, not all numbers were positive. Spotify’s ad-supported revenue dropped by 6%, a decline the company attributed to pricing pressure in the digital ad market. 

Still, CEO Daniel Ek remains optimistic, noting that the company has “the tools we need, pricing, product innovation, operational leverage, and eventually an ads turnaround to deliver both revenue growth and profit expansion.”

A change in leadership

As the company looks ahead, a major leadership shift is on the horizon. Daniel Ek will step down as CEO at the start of 2026 to become executive chairman. 

In his place, Spotify will adopt a dual-CEO structure led by Gustav Söderström, the current co-president and chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer. This move is expected to strengthen Spotify’s long-term strategy as it continues to expand in both content and advertising.

By the end of the third quarter, Spotify had 7,323 full-time employees across the globe, a reflection of its continued growth and operational scale.

Expanding the advertising ecosystem

Beyond music and podcasts, Spotify is also strengthening its advertising business. In October, it partnered with Amazon DSP, allowing advertisers using Amazon’s demand-side platform to access Spotify’s global audio and video inventory. 

This partnership gives brands the ability to run more targeted campaigns by combining Amazon’s data insights with Spotify’s massive listener base.

Spotify also expanded its programmatic advertising reach through new integrations with Yahoo DSP and ID5. The Yahoo deal lets advertisers purchase Spotify inventory directly, and early results show conversion rates increasing by nearly 70% and cost per action dropping by about 90% between July and September 2025.

Meanwhile, the ID5 collaboration is helping improve audience targeting across Europe.

Looking ahead, Spotify plans to offer Megaphone-hosted podcast publishers more control over their monetization strategies. 

Starting in 2026, these publishers will be able to set up private marketplace deals through the Spotify Ad Exchange, enabling them to manage advertiser relationships more effectively.