Spotify revenue 2013-2023

In 2023, music streaming service Spotify generated a revenue of over 13.2 billion euros, up from 11 billion in the previous year. The majority of Spotify's revenues came from its premium subscribers rather than ad placements. Founded in Stockholm in 2005, the former start-up is now a market leader in the digital music streaming sector, competing alongside established companies such as Apple and their streaming service Apple Music.

Spotify is operating on a loss

While Spotify has become a market leader thus generating a high revenue, it has also experienced a significant jump in operating loss, from 73 million euro in 2019 to 293 million euros loss in 2020. According to Spotify this is due to high costs in areas such as content creation, marketing, and sales as well as securing rights of audio and video content. This operating loss is likely to have a significant impact on the profitability of the global streaming service. The net income of Spotify seems to confirm this, since the company has been operating on a loss since its inception, claiming its highest net loss at 581 million euros in 2020.

The music streaming market is expanding

While Spotify has struggled with generating an operating income, the music streaming market is actually expanding. The number of subscribers to music streaming services has steadily been rising, highlighting the increased popularity of digital music consumption. While this development goes hand in hand with a decrease in physical music sales, the more recent upsurge in audio content streaming can partly also be attributed to the heightened demand in entertainment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.