According to PYMNTS.com, Spotify announced during its November 4, 2025 Q3 earnings that it crossed 700 million monthly active users, hitting 713 million MAUs with 11% year-over-year growth. The streaming service now has 281 million subscribers, up 12% from last year, while revenue jumped 7% to 4.3 billion euros (about $4.9 billion). Founder Daniel Ek, who’s transitioning to chairman after 19 years, emphasized that “engagement is at all-time highs” with the platform “shipping faster than ever.” Current co-presidents Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström will become co-CEOs on January 1, 2026. The company’s ad-supported MAUs grew to 446 million, and even mature markets like North America and Europe saw gains across both free and premium tiers.
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The Bigger Picture
Here’s the thing about these numbers – they’re impressive, but they’re almost becoming background noise for Spotify‘s real ambition. The company isn’t just trying to be the biggest music streamer anymore. They’re positioning themselves as what they call the “operating system for global listening.” Basically, they want to be the foundational layer that connects all audio experiences – music, podcasts, audiobooks, AI recommendations, you name it.
And they’re throwing everything at this strategy. The ChatGPT integration they launched in October? That’s a pretty clever move. Instead of waiting for users to come to Spotify, they’re embedding their recommendation engine directly into conversational AI interfaces. It’s a bet that future search won’t happen through typing keywords but through natural conversation. “Hey ChatGPT, recommend me something to listen to while working” – and suddenly you’re getting personalized Spotify suggestions without ever opening the app.
The Content Expansion Game
But here’s the challenge Spotify faces: music royalties can eat up to 70% of their revenue in some markets. That’s brutal. So they’re desperately trying to diversify into higher-margin content. Audiobooks are becoming their big play here – they’ve tripled their English-language catalog to over 500,000 titles and expanded to 14 markets. More than half of eligible premium users have tried an audiobook, with listening hours growing significantly.
The question is, can audiobooks and podcasts really move the needle enough to offset those massive music licensing costs? It’s a tough battle when you’re competing against Amazon’s Audible and the entire podcast industry. But Spotify’s advantage is their massive user base and those sophisticated recommendation algorithms that keep people engaged.
The User Experience Focus
What’s interesting is how much they’re focusing on the free tier experience. With 446 million ad-supported users, that’s their funnel for future subscribers. They’re running what they call “painted door tests” for payment methods – basically putting up different options and seeing what people actually click on. Their philosophy is starting with user choice rather than forcing specific payment methods.
And honestly, that approach makes sense when you’re operating globally. Payment preferences vary dramatically by region – what works in Europe might flop in Latin America or Southeast Asia. By testing and adapting, they’re trying to remove friction from the conversion process while keeping the free experience compelling enough that people stick around.
So where does this leave Spotify? They’ve clearly moved beyond the “Netflix for music” phase. They’re building an audio ecosystem where discovery happens everywhere, content spans multiple formats, and the experience becomes increasingly personalized. The real test will be whether users see Spotify as their go-to audio operating system – or just the app they use when they want to hear their favorite songs.
