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Spotify announced that it paid out yet another record sum to the music industry in 2025, $11 billion, topping its previous-year total by a billion for the second year in a row, making what they claim is the “largest annual payment to music from any retailer in history.”
The company says it has paid out more than $70 billion to the industry since it was founded in 2006.
In making the announcement on the company’s blog, Spotify music head Charlie Hellman stressed that “Once again, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties,” and also noted, “Today, Spotify accounts for roughly 30% of recorded music revenue.
The announcement arrives against a backdrop of musicians and particularly songwriters with legitimate issues over the low payments they receive from streaming.
Hellman also noted that “More than 750 million people around the world are now paying every month for music streaming, across all streaming services.
