Per Spotify’s Q1 2026 newsroom release dated April 28, 2026, the company ended Q1 2026 with 761 million monthly active users and 293 million Premium subscribers, extending its lead in global music streaming while rivals catch up on subscription depth and catalog scale. Q1 revenue reached €4.5 billion, and per Music Business Worldwide’s analysis of the shareholder letter, operating income rose 40% year-over-year to €715 million under the new co-CEO leadership of Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström.
Key Takeaways
- Spotify reported 761 million monthly active users in Q1 2026, up 12% year-over-year per the company’s official Spotify Newsroom earnings release.
- 293 million Premium subscribers in Q1 2026, an increase of 3 million in the quarter and 9% year-over-year.
- 483 million ad-supported MAU in Q1 2026, up 14% year-over-year and outpacing Premium subscriber growth per Music Business Worldwide’s shareholder-letter readout.
- €4.5 billion in Q1 2026 revenue, with operating income of €715 million, up 40% year-over-year, and free cash flow of €824 million, up 54% year-over-year.
- Approximately 250 million tracks in the catalog as of Q1 2026, with roughly 60,000 new songs uploaded each day per co-CEO Gustav Söderström.
- Available in 184 markets worldwide, with Q1 2026 user growth led by Latin America and Europe.
- Spotify paid the music industry more than $11 billion in 2025, with cumulative payouts approaching $70 billion since launch, per the Spotify Newsroom Q1 2026 release.
Editor’s Choice
- Bad Bunny topped Spotify Wrapped 2025 with 19.8 billion global streams, reclaiming the top spot for the fourth time.
- “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars was the most-streamed song of 2025 at over 1.7 billion streams.
- The Joe Rogan Experience held its 6th consecutive year as Spotify’s top global podcast in 2025.
- Spotify added 27 million net Premium subscribers in 2025, finishing the year at 290 million year-over-year versus 263 million at year-end 2024.
- Q4 2025 gross margin hit a record 33.1%, up 83 basis points year-over-year, per Music Business Worldwide’s Q4 2025 summary of the Spotify shareholder letter.
- Premium ARPU was €4.76 in Q1 2026, roughly flat year-on-year as reported but up 5.7% on a constant-currency basis.
- Spotify ended 2025 with 7,323 full-time employees globally.
How Many People Use Spotify?
Spotify counts 761 million monthly active users as of Q1 2026, per the company’s April 28, 2026 newsroom release. That base splits into 293 million Premium subscribers and 483 million ad-supported listeners, with Premium representing roughly 38% of total MAU (293 million of 761 million).
The trailing-year picture shows 83 million net new users: MAU climbed from 668 million at year-end 2024 to 751 million at year-end 2025 per the Q4 2025 earnings release, then added another 10 million in Q1 2026.
| User Metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly active users | 761 million | Q1 2026 |
| Premium subscribers | 293 million | Q1 2026 |
| Ad-supported MAU | 483 million | Q1 2026 |
| MAU at year-end 2025 | 751 million | Q4 2025 |
| MAU at year-end 2024 | 668 million | Q4 2024 |
| MAU guidance | 778 million | Q2 2026 |
Source: Spotify Newsroom 2026
Monthly Active Users Reached 761 Million
Quarterly MAU through Q1 2026 sits in the table below, alongside management’s Q2 2026 guidance of 778 million MAU, a forecast that would mean another 17 million net adds in a single quarter if hit.
| Quarter | Monthly Active Users (millions) | Year-over-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | 713 | 11% |
| Q4 2025 | 751 | 11% |
| Q1 2026 | 761 | 12% |
| Q2 2026 (guidance) | 778 | n/a |
Source: Spotify Newsroom 2026, Spotify Newsroom 2025
Premium Subscribers Climbed to 293 Million
By the numbers: Of the 10 million net new MAUs Spotify added in Q1 2026, 7 million (70%) joined the ad-supported tier and only 3 million (30%) joined Premium, the widest free-to-paid net-add gap of the past four quarters.
Recent Developments
- April 28, 2026: Spotify reported Q1 2026 results showing 761 million MAU, 293 million Premium subscribers, €4.5 billion revenue, and operating income of €715 million.
- April 28, 2026: Spotify’s catalog has grown to approximately 250 million tracks, with about 60,000 new songs uploaded daily, co-CEO Söderström disclosed on the Q1 2026 earnings call.
- January 15, 2026: Spotify announced Premium pricing updates for U.S., Estonia, and Latvia subscribers.
- January 1, 2026: Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström assumed co-CEO roles; founder Daniel Ek transitioned to Executive Chairman.
- November 4, 2025: Spotify Q3 2025 earnings revealed nearly 500,000 video podcasts on the platform, with approximately 390 million users having engaged with the format.
Spotify Holds Roughly 35% of Global Paid Streaming Subscribers
Spotify’s 293 million Premium subscribers equal roughly 35% of the 837 million paid streaming subscriptions counted worldwide at year-end 2025.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Global paid streaming subscribers (year-end 2025) | 837 million |
| Spotify Premium subscribers (Q1 2026) | 293 million |
| Implied Spotify share of paid streaming | ~35% |
| Global recorded music revenue (2025) | $31.7 billion |
| Streaming share of recorded music revenue | 69.6% |
| Spotify payments to the music industry (2025) | $11+ billion |
Source: IFPI Global Music Report 2026, Spotify Q1 2026 newsroom 2026
The Apple Music data set tracks the next-largest competitor in the same market.
Spotify’s Catalog: 250 Million Tracks and Seven Million Podcasts
Spotify subscribers access a music catalog of roughly 250 million tracks, a library of 7 million shows, and a rapidly growing video-podcast subset. The composition table follows.
| Catalog Segment | Approximate Count (Q1 2026) |
|---|---|
| Music tracks | 250 million |
| Podcast shows | 7 million |
| Video podcast shows | 500,000 |
| Daily new song uploads | 60,000 |
Source: Spotify Q1 2026 earnings call (Söderström) 2026, Spotify Q3 2025 newsroom 2025
Spotify Revenue, Profitability, and Margin Expansion
The takeaway: Operating income jumped 40% year-over-year to €715 million on revenue growth of only 8% as reported (15% on a constant-currency basis), reflecting the strongest single-quarter operating leverage in Spotify’s history per the Q1 2026 shareholder letter, with free cash flow up 54% to €824 million in the same window.
How Spotify Monetizes Free vs Premium Users
Spotify Availability by Country and Region
| Region | Q1 2026 MAU Growth Signal | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Latin America | Strong | Led broad-based Q1 2026 MAU growth per Variety |
| Europe | Strong | Co-led Q1 2026 user growth |
| Rest of World | Stronger | Led ad-supported MAU expansion |
| North America | Soft | Premium subscriber softness reported in Q1 2026 |
Source: Music Business Worldwide 2026, Variety 2026
Most Streamed Artists, Songs, and Podcasts
Bad Bunny led 2025 with 19.8 billion global streams, while “Die With a Smile” crossed 1.7 billion streams to claim the top song slot.
| Category | #1 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Top Global Artist | Bad Bunny | 19.8 billion streams |
| Top Global Song | “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars | over 1.7 billion streams |
| Top Global Album | “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” by Bad Bunny | n/a |
| Top Global Podcast | The Joe Rogan Experience | 6th consecutive year |
| Top Audiobook (Premium) | “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros | n/a |
| #1 U.S. Artist | Taylor Swift | also #2 globally |
Source: Spotify Newsroom, 2025 Wrapped
How Many Spotify Users Are There by Country?
Spotify discloses MAU and Premium subscribers at the consolidated level, not by country. The closest public proxy is the geographic revenue mix in the annual report: the U.S. and Europe jointly account for roughly half of users and around two-thirds of revenue.
Daily active users are not disclosed in any quarterly or annual filing. Any DAU figure circulating online is a third-party estimate, not an official number.
Mobile listening continues to dominate session counts, where Android handset share carries the bulk of global smartphone sessions Spotify’s app rides on.
Methodology
Operating, user, and financial metrics come from official newsroom releases and trade-press summaries quoting shareholder letters verbatim. Industry-level revenue comes from the IFPI Global Music Report. Constant-currency figures are reproduced as disclosed; derived metrics show both inputs and the derivation.
Conclusion
Spotify’s Q1 2026 numbers tell a coherent story: 761 million monthly users, 293 million Premium subscribers, and €4.5 billion of quarterly revenue, with operating income up 40% year-over-year to €715 million under new co-CEO leadership. A roughly 35% share of global paid streaming subscribers sits ahead of every named competitor, and the 33% gross-margin plateau is now structural.
The catalog’s machine-made uploads and the gap between ad-supported MAU growth and ad revenue both remain open questions. The guidance for 778 million MAU and 299 million Premium subscribers is the bar new co-CEOs Söderström and Norström have set themselves to clear next quarter.
