13/03/2026
Spotify paid out a record $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, bringing the streaming giant’s 20-year total to nearly $70 billion. But in its latest Loud & Clear report, the company is focusing on the artists who generated that total. The report makes the following claims:
In 2025, more than 13,800 artists generated at least $100,000 a year from Spotify alone — nearly 1,400 more than the previous year.
Moving up the scale, more than 1,500 artists generated over $1 million in royalties from Spotify alone.
And moving way up the scale, the 80 top artists each generate over $10 million annually from Spotify alone. Ten years ago, the very top artist on Spotify reached $10 million in annual royalties for the first time.
In 2025, the 100,000th highest-earning artist generated more than $7,300 in royalties from Spotify alone. In 2015, the artist in that same position generated about $350.
Despite those impressive numbers, the report arrives against a backdrop of musicians and particularly songwriters with legitimate issues over the low payments they receive from streaming, but in that context it’s important to bear in mind that Spotify — like most streaming services — pays rights-holders, usually a label and music publisher, which then distribute the money to musicians and songwriters, after taking their percentage. While the streaming economy leaves much to be desired in terms of compensating creators, the blame is not entirely on streaming services.