Spotify Hails “A New Class of Career Artists” In Latest ‘Loud & Clear’ Report

Spotify has marked its 20th anniversary with a new edition of its ‘Loud & Clear’ annual report. It contains numerous insights into the streaming service’s impact on the music ecosystem in 2025.

$11 billion in payouts:

• Spotify says it was the highest-paying retailer globally in 2025, paying the music industry more than $11 billion.

• Its payouts grew more than 10% YoY.

• Roughly half of the royalties were generated by independent artists and labels.

A new class of artists:

• In 2025, more than 13,800 artists generated at least $100,000 from Spotify alone, nearly 1,400 more than in 2024.

• It says more artists generated over $100K in 2025 than generated $50K five years ago.

Million-dollar earners:

• More than 1,500 artists generated over $1 million in royalties from Spotify last year.

• 80 artists generated more than $10 million each, a figure reached by only one artist 10 years ago.

Rising talent:

• Spotify says the 100,000th highest-earning artist in 2025 generated more than $7,300 in royalties from Spotify alone.

• In 2015, the artist in the same position generated about $350.

Indie spirit:

• More than 10% of the artists generating over $100,000 annually on Spotify today were first playlisted in the Fresh Finds ecosystem, which spotlights emerging indie artists.

DIY successes:

• In 2025 more than a third of the artists who generated $10,000 or more in royalties from Spotify were DIY, says the company, meaning they self-release music through independent distributors, or began their careers that way.

Global listeners:

• Spotify says that on average, artists at all levels see more than half of their royalties coming from abroad two years after their first release.

Breaking the language barrier:

• In 2025, songs in 16 languages reached Spotify’s Global Top 50, more than double the number in 2020.

• Among genres generating more than $100 million in Spotify royalties, the fastest growing were Brazilian funk (+36%), K-pop (+31%), Latin trap (+29%), Latin urban (+27%), and reggaeton (+24%).

Songwriter royalties:

• Spotify says 2025 marked the largest annual music publishing payout in its history.

• Over the past two years, it's paid approximately $5 billion to the publishers and organizations representing songwriters.

Mass ticket sales:

• By connecting fans with nearby shows, Spotify says it drove $1.5 billion in ticket sales in 2025.