Tag: S4A

From $11B in 2025 Payouts to What We’re Building for Artists in 2026

January 28, 2026

Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify for Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025 (up more than 10% from 2024), the largest annual payment to music creators from any retailer in history.

I’m Charlie, and I lead Spotify’s music team. As we look at 2026, I want to start with where 2025 landed. 

I’m proud to share that, last year alone, Spotify paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry, the largest annual payment to music from any retailer in history. Once again, independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties. 

Big, industry-wide numbers can feel abstract, but that growth is showing up in tangible ways. For example, there are now more artists generating over $100k/year from Spotify alone than were getting stocked on record store shelves at the height of the CD era. That’s the real shift and extraordinary progress that these numbers represent. Despite rampant misinformation about how streaming is working today, the reality is that this is an era full of more success stories and promise than at any point in history. 

Today, Spotify accounts for roughly 30% of recorded music revenue. Last year, our payouts grew by more than 10%, while other industry income sources grew by closer to 4%, making Spotify the primary driver of industry revenue growth in 2025.

At the end of the day, growth is driven by fans. More than 750 million people around the world are now paying every month for music streaming, across all streaming services. As that audience has grown, we’ve also raised prices. Since Spotify pays out two-thirds of all music revenue to the industry – almost 70% of what we take in – as Spotify revenues grow, music payouts have grown as well. 

What about the other third — the money Spotify keeps? That’s been our fuel to reinvest directly into the platform in ways that drive more people to pay for music streaming and continue to grow revenues for music. By doing all we can to innovate on behalf of the music industry, we’ve been able to deliver an unrivaled listening experience, helping connect artists with listeners who are most likely to care about their music. 

One of the reasons we celebrate the Best New Artist nominees each year is because they represent something powerful: artists who’ve broken through and found their audience. But the path to that moment is steep. With over 100,000 new songs released daily, competing against the entire history of recorded music, emerging artists face an unprecedented challenge in building the early fanbase every successful career needs. We’re working across multiple fronts to increase the opportunities available, and ensure more artists have real pathways to success. That’s why this year our number one priority is to help more new music and new artists cut through the noise and form real connections with fans. Here’s what we’re building:

Artist storytelling and video

As AI makes all kinds of content more abundant, human connection has become more valuable, not less. Helping fans better understand who artists are and what inspires them establishes real connections that turn casual listeners into long-term fans. To support that, we’re bringing more context into the listening experience, whether that’s information about the artist, the story behind a song, or moments that show how the music actually comes together. With the upcoming launch of SongDNA, for example, fans can explore the collaborations behind a song—like Addison Rae’s breakout work with Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd—and follow those connections deeper into the music. Before long, you’re finding your way into new catalogs, like Kloser’s work with Ed Sheeran or Anderfjärd’s work with Alec Benjamin.

Video also plays a big role in storytelling, and we’ve only scratched the surface. Especially now, authenticity matters more than production value. A live performance, a stripped-down version, a rehearsal, or a moment from the studio — those make the connection real. For KATSEYE, early behind-the-scenes Clips on their Countdown Page fueled anticipation by bringing fans into the journey leading up to the release of BEAUTIFUL CHAOS.

Artist identity and trust

Storytelling helps fans understand who’s behind the music, and ensures authentic creativity stands out from anonymous filler. But that’s not enough on its own. Protecting artists’ identities is a top priority, and we’re building new solutions to prevent impersonation, scams, and mismatched content. 

AI is being exploited by bad actors to flood streaming services with low-quality slop to game the system and attempt to divert royalties away from authentic artists. So we’re going to introduce changes to the systems for artist verification, song credits, and protecting artist identity. It’s critical to ensuring listeners and rightsholders can trust who made the music they’re hearing.

Human editorial

When artists start to connect with fans on Spotify, sustaining that attention becomes the next challenge. The tools artists already use in Spotify for Artists are built for exactly that, and in 2026 we’re sharpening them in ways that serve new releases especially. 

Every developing artist is looking to break out. And being added to a hand-selected editorial playlist can mark a turning point for an artist, growing exposure and streams to new heights. For Leon Thomas, pitching songs through Spotify for Artists led to editorial placements on RADAR and RNB X, introducing his music to listeners in more than 180 countries. 

Even more important than the numbers they drive, these playlists reflect human expert opinion. In a world of highly individualized listening through algorithms, editorial curation gives artists and fans a common cultural reference point.

In 2026, you’ll see us create new programs where editorial can unlock more sustained support for emerging artists that help turn early recognition into ongoing momentum. And we’ll bring more of the human voice behind that curation into the listening experience. We’ve already started experimenting with this by bringing our music editors forward through video and storytelling, where they share why a song resonated and what stood out about an artist. For artists, that means more opportunities for their music and story to come to life for listeners.

Live shows

We believe that as fans go deeper into an artist’s world on Spotify, that connection shouldn’t live only online. Showing up to support an artist in person has always been one of the strongest forms of fandom, and one of the most important income streams for artists.

Spotify helps ensure rooms are not only filled, but filled with true fans. By understanding how listeners connect with your music, we help artists reach the fans who care most, and are most likely to buy tickets.

To date, Spotify has helped artists generate more than $1 billion in ticket sales by connecting fans with live shows through our ticketing partners. In 2026, we’re building on that strength with new features that will help more artists turn listening into tangible support from their fans.

You’ve built communities, taken risks, and kept going even when the path felt uncertain. It’s our job to make sure Spotify works as hard as you do, and keeps growing in ways that better support artists who are serious about building a career. Unprecedented competition alongside unprecedented opportunity defines today’s music industry. Our focus is ensuring that growth creates clear, reliable paths for artists to reach fans, and sustain careers.

That’s the standard we’re holding ourselves in 2026.

There’s a lot of work ahead and I’m excited about what we can build together this year.

Charlie

B-LINE Is Here to Help: Backline Launches 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health & Crisis Support Line in Partnership with Spotify

January 27, 2026

Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading mental health and wellness nonprofit, in the launch of B-LINE, a 24/7 mental health and crisis support line created exclusively for the U.S. music community. For artists, their teams, and their families, B-LINE provides a connection to trained counselors who understand the unique pressures of working in music and are available around the clock. This first-of-its-kind service is open now.

The new hotline builds on the momentum from initiatives like Chappell Roan’s WE GOT YOU! fundraising campaign for Backline, which rallied the industry to better care for its own. As lead sponsor, Spotify is honored to help bring B-LINE to life alongside key partners Noah Kahan and Live Nation. Additional support comes from Kahan’s The Busyhead Project, Adyen, AEG Presents, Red Light Management, and Wasserman Foundation.

“Artists are the lifeblood of culture, but too often they and their teams don’t have the safety nets they need. That has to change,” said Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s Global Head of Music. “Spotify is proud to enable Backline to build B-LINE and expand access to this critical support.”

Available in the U.S., B-LINE provides anyone working in and around music with immediate, confidential support and a seamless transition into long-term care. Backline is working with experts like Vibrant Emotional Health, a national leader in mental health, to deliver this service.

“This has always been the dream,” said Hilary Gleason, Backline Cofounder and Executive Director. “We’ve supported thousands of music industry professionals in their mental health and wellness journeys, but one critical piece was missing: real-time access to care. B-LINE changes that.”

The widespread support from across the industry speaks to the urgent need for this resource. “Support for the well-being of the incredibly hard-working artists and people that make the music industry function has long been neglected,” said Kahan. “A dedicated 24-hour hotline is the first step toward accessing critical mental health support.” Michael Rapino, Live Nation Entertainment President & CEO, added, “B-LINE gives them something we’ve long needed: immediate help, anytime.”

This partnership is part of Spotify’s ongoing commitment to creator well-being, which extends globally. For a full guide on how B-LINE works and to explore additional resources, including crisis support for those working outside the U.S., head to Spotify for Artists.

To connect with B-LINE, call 1-855-BLINE99 or text BLINE9 to 254-639.

From Data to Strategy: How Artists Can Make the Most of Their 2024 Wrapped

December 4, 2024

Spotify Wrapped is beloved by fans, but artists also cherish the experience. For them, it’s a unique opportunity to forge personal connections with their fans, celebrating those who streamed them the most and highlighting the tracks that truly resonated. In 2024, Wrapped for Artists returns with even more impact—featuring personalized data stories and visuals that reflect how artists engaged with their fans this year.

“This year, it was important to us that we curate a Wrapped experience that highlights the unique ways artists are willing to share more of themselves with their fans,” says Zach Burton, Associate Manager, Product Marketing at Spotify. “Features like Clips and Canvas invite artists to express themselves in a whole new way, and I’m so excited for artists to see how their biggest fans engaged with their art. And of course, to see them share it with all of their fans worldwide who made it possible.”

Curious what Spotify Wrapped has in store for artists? For the Record asked Zach to give up even more details.

What can artists expect from their Wrapped this year?

We’ve continued to innovate our data stories for artists so they can gain even deeper insights about their audiences and the growth they’ve had on Spotify each year. It wouldn’t be Wrapped without the crowd favorites, so we’re bringing back popular data stories like total listeners, top fans, top track, and the gains an artist made this year compared to last year. We’re also introducing two brand-new stories: the addition of an artist’s top-three-performing Clips, and the new release story, which highlights the artist’s biggest release week based on week-one streams. If an artist set up a Countdown Page in 2024, they’ll also see how many presaves it generated towards that project.

Also, when we began ideating on what this year’s Wrapped for Artists could be, we knew we wanted to give artists and their teams the freedom to move around within the microsite. That’s why we’re introducing a global navigation menu that allows artists to progress through the experience at their own pace and seamlessly navigate to the data points that matter most to them.

Additionally, we optimized each data story for sharing, introducing a brand-new array of share cards featuring individual cards for each data story. This allows artists to share results with their fans at any given point in the experience, rather than having to wait until the end to only share their Wrapped summary data points. This will be especially helpful to people who manage multiple artists.

What about songwriters and producers? What can they expect from their Wrapped?

Similar to artists, songwriters and producers who have an active Songwriter Page have access to their own microsite where they’ll receive a recap of their year on Spotify and Wrapped summary cards to share on social media.

It was a huge year for songwriters and producers in the industry, so we’re also taking our social campaign up a notch this year and bringing some new concepts to life—like capturing live reactions of songwriters receiving their Wrapped results, and celebrating the overall journey in a way that empowers the whole songwriter community.

How does Wrapped help artists connect more deeply with their fans?

Clips are a great way for artists to speak directly to the fans who kept them in their rotation all year long. We’ve incorporated Clips from artists into Wrapped for the past two years, and this year, we gave artists three new prompts for their messages to fans: 1) Reveal which song you’ve loved performing this year, 2) Drop the real meaning behind one of your new songs, and 3) Tell a story about writing a track.

These prompts give fans a chance to relive their favorite moments with artists’ music while looking forward to what’s coming next. Clips uploaded ahead of the Wrapped launch have the opportunity to be featured within the main data stories and a video feed for top fans. After Wrapped, artists’ uploaded Clips will be featured across Spotify—on their artist profile, the Now Playing view, Release Pages, and Home—so artists can keep reaching potential new listeners, connecting with fans, and driving streams and saves.

What advice do you have for artists in terms of using the data and insights from their Wrapped?

Wrapped for Artists provides valuable insights about artists’ biggest fans and most popular content, which could help power their future strategies. After learning more about how they showed up in 2024, artists can consider using some of Spotify for Artists’ tools to develop their fan base even further in 2025. This could mean expanding the audiences they saw strong engagement with, or learning from the visuals and releases they had the most success with when developing new release strategies. We’re excited to see how artists will translate these insights into meaningful strategies next year and beyond.

Ready to explore your Wrapped for Artists? Head to Spotify for Artists.

To learn more about this year’s campaign and experience, check out our 2024 Wrapped hub.

Five Artists Reflect on Five Years of Spotify in India, Reaching New Fans, and the ‘True Power’ of Music

March 20, 2024

Since launching in India in 2019, Spotify has opened up opportunities for artists and creators across the country and established new ways for listeners to discover and consume audio. Five years later, we’re now the most-loved audio-streaming platform in India, especially among Gen Z and millennials.

We kicked off our anniversary celebrations earlier this month by taking a look at the impact we’ve had over the last five years, from Indian music and podcast consumption habits to the most-exported Indian artists. For the country’s artist community, the results speak for themselves.

Spotify’s presence in India has connected talented local artists with global audiences, helping share their music far and wide. Today, more listeners than ever are discovering Indian artists around the world—in 2023, the global consumption of music from India grew by 85% year-over-year. And in fact, Indian musician Arijit Singh is the third-most-followed artist on Spotify worldwide.

Spotify has also deeply invested in educating Indian artists about Spotify for Artists, a platform that empowers artists by showing them how their music is being consumed and helping them better connect with fans. Today, more than 28,000 artists from India use Spotify for Artists, which is more than double what it was a year ago.

For the Record sat down with five artists—Anuv Jain, King, Jasleen Royal, Armaan Malik, and Jonita Gandhi—who’ve been with Spotify from the beginning of our journey in India to hear how they’ve found new audiences and created deeper connections.

Anuv Jain

Anuv Jain is one of India’s most popular independent music artists. His 2018 single “Baarishein” put him on the map. The singer-songwriter from Punjab relies almost solely on acoustics and soulful lyrics, drawing inspiration from his own life experiences.

How do you think Spotify has helped advance your career?

I am not sure whether people know this, but my music has been up on Spotify since before the platform even launched in India. So, we’ve had a long relationship. I think Spotify listeners want to explore a lot more music, as well as different genres, and that has definitely helped me out. All things considered, I think Spotify has helped me reach so many people, and I am truly grateful for that.

Share a story that highlights how Spotify has changed the way you connect with fans.

Spotify has given me a platform to gauge how my audience is perceiving my music, the age group my audience belongs to, the cities I have the most listenership from, the countries I have managed to tap into, and so much more. This informs the way I connect with my audience. Since my audience mostly includes millennial and Gen Z listeners, this influences the way I communicate with them on my social platforms, the content I put out, and the cities I want to visit and perform at. I just concluded my tour in the U.K. and Ireland, which happened because we found out that I have great listenership in the region. We sold out both shows in London, as well as the Dublin and Manchester shows!

King

After his 2019 breakthrough on the Indian reality show MTV Hustle, rapper and pop star King has delivered a slew of hits. His Hindi-language track “Maan Meri Jaan” was the most-streamed song of 2023 in India on Spotify, and he also teamed up with Nick Jonas on a bilingual remix, “Maan Meri Jaan (Afterlife).”

How do you think Spotify has helped advance your career?

Spotify has been a crucial part of my story ever since its algorithms and playlists took my song “Tu Aake Dekhle” and shared it with listeners around the country and the world. It has helped me not only connect with my Kingsclan, but also attract new fans who have supported me and my music unconditionally.

Share a story that highlights how Spotify has changed the way you connect with fans.

The fact that countless people have reached out to me over the years mentioning how they’ve found a safe space within my music always ends up reminding me of the true power of music and how it reaches people like I could’ve never imagined. I’m grateful for being able to share my music through this platform and being able to touch the lives of people in even the smallest way possible.

Jasleen Royal

Jasleen Royal is a self-taught singer-songwriter-composer who broke onto the scene in 2009 as a semifinalist on India’s Got Talent. She’s since built an impressive music career, including composing a number of hit Bollywood tracks.

How do you think Spotify has helped advance your career?

Spotify connected me to my fans, allowing me to share my music with them directly. It has given me exceptional reach across the world. Also, Spotify for Artists offers insights into how your songs are performing—and where—allowing you to use that information to plan even better.

Share a story that highlights how Spotify has changed the way you connect with fans.

I remember when my track “Kho Gaye Hum Kahan” suddenly picked up years after its release. With Spotify for Artists, I was able to see the spike in streams—which otherwise would have gone unnoticed—and study where it was coming from. These kinds of statistics are very insightful for an artist.

Armaan Malik

Armaan Malik got his start as a child singer in Bollywood. After cementing his position in the Indian music industry, the singer-songwriter forayed into the global circuit with his 2020 debut English single, “Control.” In 2022, he even teamed up with Ed Sheeran on a remix of “2step.”

How do you think Spotify has helped advance your career?

Spotify has revolutionized my career. Its vast reach and the remarkable surge in listenership it enables has unlocked opportunities in countries I never even imagined reaching. Beyond the numbers, it’s the authentic connections with listeners from all walks of life that has been truly transformative. Spotify has been instrumental in shaping my pop career, catapulting it to thrilling new heights.

Share a story that highlights how Spotify has changed the way you connect with fans.

A fantastic method of engaging with fans and expanding my audience is through curated playlists, particularly those crafted by artists themselves. One example is my own playlist, Hooked. It not only showcases my personal music preferences but also serves as a platform for teasing upcoming releases through clever hints and hidden surprises. It’s been an innovative way to connect with fans and keep them excited about what’s next in my musical journey. Another great feature is Clips, which can enhance the storytelling, adding more layers to the song within the ecosystem.

Jonita Gandhi

Born in New Delhi and raised in Toronto, Jonita Gandhi’s Canadian and Indian heritage helped shape her diverse musical palette. Today, the artist is an acclaimed multilingual singer who has recorded songs for some of India’s biggest movies. Earlier this year, she released her debut EP, Love Like That.

How do you think Spotify has helped advance your career?

Spotify has really helped me understand who’s listening to my music and what they’re resonating with. As a versatile artist, it’s sometimes hard to know who’s invested in my music, but Spotify has helped me tap into my true fans.

Share a story that highlights how Spotify has changed the way you connect with fans.

The first billboard I was featured on in my hometown of Toronto and in New York City’s Times Square was part of a Spotify campaign. I really believe that changed the way I connected with my audience, especially internationally. It made me feel seen and it was a full-circle experience.

Dive into our I-Pop Superhits playlist to discover some of the hottest pop music from Indian artists.

Five Years of Spotify in India: A Look Back at Our Greatest Hits

March 12, 2024

February marked Spotify’s fifth year in India, and since our debut, we’ve focused on lifting up the country’s creator community, localizing content for users, and making streaming the default way for listeners to discover and consume audio.

By regionally tailoring our platform features, Premium plans, playlist curation, brand campaigns, and on-ground experiences, Spotify has grown to become the most-loved streaming audio platform in India, especially among Gen Z and millennials.

Spotify has also deeply invested in educating the artist community on how to make the most of Spotify For Artists, a platform that empowers artists and their management to analyze how their music is consumed around the world. Today, more than 28,000 artists in India use Spotify For Artists, which is more than double compared to a year ago. Listening habits in India have also shifted, going from fans streaming nearly 70% international music on Spotify five years ago, to streaming more than 70% local music today. And in 2023 alone, the global consumption of music from India grew by 85% year-over-year. 

Let’s take a closer look at how Indian music has grown with Spotify over the last five years:

Spotify is the destination for podcasts in India

Spotify has also deeply invested in the podcast industry. Through Spotify Podcasters’ Day and regional creator support programs, podcasters learned about the ease of making their own podcasts on Spotify For Podcasters. As a result, more than 200,000 podcasts were created using the platform in 2023 while podcast listening in India increased significantly across several genres, including history,education, mythology, and true crime.

  • Four of the top 10 podcasts on Spotify in India were of the mythology / spirituality genre in 2023, including the most-streamed podcast of the year. Altogether, the genre grew by more than 80% through the year.  

In 2024 and beyond, Spotify in India will remain focused on supporting artists locally and globally—especially in the worlds of film and artist-first, Indian pop music fandom—while enabling podcasters to find the best ways to more effectively create and monetize content. It will also continue providing the best opportunities for brands to advertise on the platform to music fans and podcast listeners (Spotify Audience Network), launching new features that make Spotify more personalized, and making Premium more accessible and relevant for India.

Looking to discover the hottest songs and artists making waves in India today? Check out our Hot Hits Punjabi playlist below.

You Can Now Use Spotify to Find Your Favorite Artists’ Virtual Events

September 15, 2020

Over the past six months, artists have adopted innovative ways to connect with their listeners from afar, and virtual performances have played a key role. With most tours postponed until 2021 and online concerts set to continue, Spotify wants to make it easy for fans to learn about virtual events—whether for artists you already love or for those you’re discovering for the very first time.

Starting today, listeners will be able to find virtual event listings on Spotify. Head to the “On Tour” section of your favorite artists’ profiles for their scheduled performances or take a look at the full listings on our Concerts hub. Both will integrate event listings for shows on any platform—whether that’s Twitch, Instagram Live, YouTube Live, a hosted website, or something else—through ticketing partners like Songkick and Ticketmaster.

Head to the Concerts hub (you can find it under Browse on desktop and Search on mobile), or scroll through your favorite artist’s profile to find the “On Tour” section. And keep checking your inbox for our personalized virtual event recommendation emails for musicians we know you’ll love.

Read more about the feature on Spotify for Artists.