Spotify User Stats (Updated March 2023)
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Spotify User Stats (Updated March 2023)

Brian Dean

Written by Brian Dean

Spotify Usage and Growth Statistics: How Many People Use Spotify?

Spotify launched in October 2008 as a music streaming service.

It took Spotify over two years to reach the 1 million subscriber milestone.

Today, as a publicly traded company, Spotify has 165 million subscribers. And it has expanded beyond music, with more than 2.9 million podcast titles available.

Here’s an overview of what you’ll learn about Spotify in 2023:

Spotify monthly active users

According to company-published data, Spotify has 365 million monthly active users. Spotify has seen consistent quarter-on-quarter growth of its active user base since 2015.

Spotify has 365 million monthly active users

In fact, Spotify has added 133 million monthly active users over the last two years (Q2 2020 – Q2 2021).

According to insights shared in a recent Spotify shareholder letter, Spotify estimates that it will have 400-407 million monthly active users by the end of 2021. A forecasted increase of  17.97% compared to the same time last year.

Spotify monthly active user growth

Here’s a full breakdown of Spotify monthly user growth since 2015:

*projected
Quarter, year Monthly active users
Q1 2015 68 million
Q2 2015 77 million
Q3 2015 82 million
Q4 2015 91 million
Q1 2016 96 million
Q2 2016 104 million
Q3 2016 113 million
Q4 2016 123 million
Q1 2017 132 million
Q2 2017 138 million
Q3 2017 149 million
Q4 2017 160 million
Q1 2018 157 million
Q2 2018 180 million
Q3 2018 191 million
Q4 2018 207 million
Q1 2019 217 million
Q2 2019 232 million
Q3 2019 248 million
Q4 2019 271 million
Q1 2020 286 million
Q2 2020 299 million
Q3 2020 320 million
Q4 2020 345 million
Q1 2021 356 million
Q2 2021 365 million
Q3 2021* 377-382 million
Q4 2021* 400-407 million

Sources: Spotify, Statista

Distribution of Spotify monthly active users

34% of Spotify’s monthly active users live in Europe. That equates to over 124.1 million monthly active users in the EU alone.

34% of Spotify’s monthly active users live in Europe

A further 46% of Spotify MAUs are based in North & Latin America.

Europe & North America combined make up the majority (58%) of Spotify’s active user base, totaling 211.7 million monthly active users.

Here’s the complete distribution of Spotify MAUs by region:

Region Share of monthly active users
Europe 34%
North America 24%
Latin America 22%
Rest of the World 20%

Source: Spotify

Spotify paying subscribers

Spotify has 165 million Premium subscribers worldwide. An increase from only 100 million subscribers in early 2019.

Spotify has 165 million Premium subscribers

Spotify estimates that the audio streaming service is expected to have 177-181 million Premium subscribers by the end of 2021. An annual increase of at least 14.19% (assuming the lowest number in the forecasted range).

Spotify premium subscribers growth

Here’s a complete breakdown of Spotify Premium subscriber growth since Q1 2015:

*projected
Quarter, year Paying subscribers
Q1 2015 18 million
Q2 2015 22 million
Q3 2015 24 million
Q4 2015 28 million
Q1 2016 30 million
Q2 2016 36 million
Q3 2016 40 million
Q4 2016 48 million
Q1 2017 52 million
Q2 2017 59 million
Q3 2017 62 million
Q4 2017 71 million
Q1 2018 75 million
Q2 2018 83 million
Q3 2018 87 million
Q4 2018 96 million
Q1 2019 100 million
Q2 2019 108 million
Q3 2019 113 million
Q4 2019 124 million
Q1 2020 130 million
Q2 2020 138 million
Q3 2020 144 million
Q4 2020 155 million
Q1 2021 158 million
Q2 2021 165 million
Q3 2021* 170-174 million
Q4 2021* 177-181 million

Sources: Statista, Spotify

Distribution of Spotify Premium subscribers by region

69% of Spotify Premium subscribers are based in Europe and North America.

69% of Spotify Premium subscribers are based in Europe and North America

Here’s the regional distribution of Spotify Premium subscribers:

Region Share of Premium subscribers
Europe 40%
North America 29%
Latin America 20%
Rest of the World 11%

Source: Spotify

Spotify revenue

Spotify is expected to register between $10.7 and $11.17 billion (€9.26 – 9.66b) in annual revenue by the end of 2021. An increase from $9.11 billion (€7.88b) in 2020.

Spotify revenue

Here’s a comprehensive overview of Spotify’s revenue since 2012:

*projected
Year Revenue (in Euros)
2009 13.36 million
2010 73.9 million
2011 187.8 million
2012 430.1 million
2013 746 million
2014 1.08 billion
2015 1.94 billion
2016 2.95 billion
2017 4.09 billion
2018 5.26 billion
2019 6.76 billion
2020 7.88 billion
2021* 9.26 – 9.66 billion

Sources: Statista, Spotify

Spotify revenue by segment: Premium subscribers

Spotify has two revenue streams: subscription fees from Premium subscribers and an ad-supported business.

Spotify registered $8.25 billion (€7.13b) in revenue in 2020 from Premium subscribers.

In fact, Spotify’s Premium subscriber revenue has increased $1.2 billion (€1.04b) in 2020 alone.

Spotify Revenue From Premium Subscribers

For the first two quarters of 2021, premium revenue amounted to $4.6 billion (€3.98b).

We’ve charted the growth of Spotify revenue from Premium subscribers since 2012:

Year Revenue from Premium subscribers (in Euros)
2012 374.6 million
2013 677.89 million
2014 982.7 million
2015 1.74 billion
2016 2.657 billion
2017 3.67 billion
2018 4.717 billion
2019 6.086 billion
2020 7.13 billion
2021 (Q1+Q2) 3.98 billion

Sources: Spotify, Statista

Spotify revenue by segment: ad-supported users

Spotify generated $851 million (€745m) in annual ad revenue in 2020. An increase from $975.6 million (€542m) in 2018.

Spotify Revenue From Ad-supported Users

By the second quarter of 2021, ad-supported users generated $567 million (€491m) for Spotify.

Here’s an overview of Spotify’s ad-supported revenue since 2012:

Year Ad-supported revenue (in euros)
2012 55.5 million
2013 68.16 million
2014 102 million
2015 196 million
2016 295 million
2017 416 million
2018 542 million
2019 678 million
2020 745 million
2021 (Q1+Q2) 491 million

Source: Spotify, Statista

Spotify market share

Spotify has a 33.8% market share in the music streaming space. Among the 487 million people that have a music streaming subscription, 165 million of them are subscribed to Spotify (as of mid-2021).

Spotify has a 33.8% market share

Over the past 5 years, Spotify’s market share has been consistently in the 32%-43% range. Although Spotify’s market share has decreased slightly over the past three years.

We’ve charted the Spotify market share among paying music streaming users since 2015:

Year Market share
2015 41.2%
2016 42.8%
2017 40.3%
2018 42.7%
2019 36.4%
2020 (Q1) 32.5%
2021 (Q1) 32%

Sources: Midia, Statista, Spotify

Spotify as a podcast listening app

Spotify is reported to be the 2nd most used app for listening podcasts in the US, with 40% of listeners frequently using it. That is a 33% increase from 2019.

For Android mobile phone owners in the US, Spotify, along with YouTube, is the most used app for podcast listening, with a 26% market share (up from 23% in 2020).

Among American millennials aged 18-34 who listen to podcasts on a regular basis, Spotify is the most used platform for podcasts (50% are frequently using it).

Source: Westwood One

Globally, the Joe Rogan Experience is the most popular podcast on Spotify. Other popular podcast streams include Crime Junkie and Call Her Daddy.

Here’s the complete list of the top 5 most popular podcasts on Spotify globally:

  1. The Joe Rogan Experience
  2. Crime Junkie
  3. Call Her Daddy
  4. The Daily
  5. Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Source: Spotify

Among global Spotify podcast listeners, Society & Culture is the most popular podcast genre on the platform. Comedy and Lifestyle & Health round out the top 3 podcast genres on Spotify.

Here’s are the top 5 most popular podcast genres among Spotify’s worldwide audience:

  1. Society & Culture
  2. Comedy
  3. Lifestyle & Health.
  4. Arts & Entertainment.
  5. Education.

Source: Spotify

How many podcasts are available on Spotify?

Spotify has over 2.9 million podcasts in its catalog. An increase of 5.8x since 2019.

Spotify added 1,700,000 new podcasts in 2020 alone.

Sources: The Guardian, Spotify

In how many countries is Spotify available?

Spotify is currently available in 178 countries. Since 2020, Spotify has expanded its presence to additional 85 countries.

Back in 2017, Spotify was available in 61 markets across the world. Between 2018 and 2021, the audio streaming service became available in 117 additional countries.

Sources: Spotify, TechCrunch, Wikipedia

Spotify app geographic availability by platform

According to Appfigures data, the iOS Spotify mobile app is available for download in 157 countries in the App Store.

As of October 2021, Spotify is available in 90% of countries where the iOS App Store operates.

Besides their desktop offering, the Spotify Music app is available for install on smart TVs via the Roku Channel Store. Spotify for Roku is available in all 17 countries where Roku operates.

In the Amazon App Store, the Spotify app is available in 9 countries among the 11 countries where the Amazon App Store works. The two excluded countries are China and Japan.

Source: Appfigures

How many playlists are available on Spotify?

Spotify has over 4 billion playlists available in its catalog.

The audio streaming platform has added over 1 billion new playlists in 2020 alone.

Source: Spotify

All of the top 20 most-followed playlists on Spotify are curated by the company itself.

50% of Spotify’s top 20 most followed playlists are personalized.

50% of Spotify’s top 20 most followed playlists are personalized

Categorized by genre, 50% of the top 20 Spotify playlists feature pop music. While pop and Latin music genres are responsible for 10% of total playlist popularity.

70% of Spotify’s top 20 most followed playlists are composed of mostly new tracks (tracks less than 18 months old).

The remaining 30% of Spotify’s top 20 most popular playlists include a minority of new tracks (tracks less than 18 months old).

What are the most popular playlists on Spotify?

Spotify has 27 playlists with over 5 million followers.

Here’s the ranking of the top 20 most followed playlists on Spotify:

Playlist Number of followers
Today’s Top Hits 27.76 million
Global Top 50 15.91 million
RapCaviar 13.62 million
¡Viva Latino! 10.81 million
Baila Reggaeton 10.19 million
Songs to Sing in the Car (personalized) 9.78 million
All Out 00s (personalized) 9.05 million
Rock Classics (personalized) 8.77 million
All Out 80s (personalized) 8.17 million
Beast Mode (personalized) 7.74 million
All Out 90s (personalized) 6.43 million
Mood Booster (personalized) 6.39 million
Chill Hits (personalized) 6.25 million
Hot Country 6.24 million
Peaceful Piano 6.13 million
Get Turnt 5.96 million
Songs to Sing in the Shower (personalized) 5.86 million
Esquenta Sertanejo 5.71 million
mint 5.57 million
Happy Hits! (personalized) 5.52 million

Source: Charmetric, Hypebot

How many tracks are available on Spotify?

Spotify has over 70 million tracks on the platform as of late 2021, according to company data. An increase from 50 million tracks in early 2020.

By the end of 2021, Spotify is expected to upload 22 million more tracks (an average of 60,000 tracks per day, or almost one in every second).

Sources: Music Business Worldwide, Spotify

Ed Sheeran is the most popular artist on Spotify, with 85.77 million monthly listeners. An estimated 23.5% of Spotify’s monthly active users have listened to Ed Sheeran.

Who are the most popular artists on Spotify?

Here’s are the top 20 most popular artists on Spotify ranked by the number of monthly listeners:

Artist Monthly listeners
Ed Sheeran 85.77 million
Ariana Grande 69.79 million
Drake 57.61 million
Justin Bieber 51.06 million
Billie Eilish 49.81 million
Eminem 48.14 million
Rihanna 45.14 million
Taylor Swift 43.73 million
BTS 39.45 million
Bad Bunny 38.13 million
The Weeknd 37.14 million
Queen 37.02 million
Imagine Dragons 36.08 million
Shawn Mendes 34.7 million
Post Malone/td> 34.34 million
Bruno Mars 34.18 million
Arijit Singh 33.51 million
Maroon 5 33.2 million
Marshmello 32.15 million
Coldplay 32.02 million

In 2020, the most streamed artist among the global Spotify audience was Bad Bunny.

Sources: Charmetric, Spotify

How many people work at Spotify?

According to a Spotify press release, 7,085 employees work at the company as full-time employees. Employee count has grown by 60.8% since 2019.

How many people work at Spotify?

We’ve charted the growth of Spotify’s employee headcount since 2011:

Year Number of employees
2011 311
2013 958
2014 1,365
2015 1,581
2016 2,162
2017 2,960
2018 3,651
2019 4,405
2020 6,554
2021 (Q2) 7,085

According to Spotify’s annual report, the average annual salary of a full-time employee at Spotify was €122,814 in 2019. Spotify’s spending on wages and salaries per full-time employee has increased by 9.63% for a year.

Sources: Spotify, Statista.

Conclusion

You made it! That wraps up my list of Spotify users and revenue statistics.

Even though Spotify is a public company, they don’t publish a lot of their data in one place. So I did my best to compile facts and figures available from a range of sources. That way, you could easily find the data that you’re interested in.

Spotify has gone beyond music with major investments in podcasts and video. Yet, the company is still not profitable as of late 2021.

Now I want to hear from you:

Do you have any suggestions for this collection of Spotify statistics? Or questions about the data listed here?

Go ahead and leave a quick comment below.

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