Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation across our platform. Q1 results were in line with or ahead of expectations across all key metrics; MAU and subscriber growth remained strong as we surpassed 760 million monthly active users, and we delivered our second-highest gross margin to date.

Alex Norstr m, Co-CEO, said: We surpassed 760 million MAU, delivered on the subscriber growth we aimed to achieve, and saw healthy engagement from existing users, reactivations and new users alike. Since the global rollout of our more personalized free experience, users in key markets like the US are listening and watching more days per month. All that reinforces our confidence in sustained user and subscriber growth, low churn, and continued progress on revenue and margin.

Gustav S derstr m, Co-CEO, said: We're well positioned because of our large, engaged user base, deep creator relationships, and years of investment in personalization and infrastructure at scale. Together, these create a platform that can take advantage of this moment and unlock entirely new growth vectors that will enable us to climb new mountains previously unimaginable. We see significant room to grow across users, formats and engagement and to expand what Spotify is and can become over time.

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Q1 2026 Earnings Results:

Premium Subscribers grew 9% Y/Y to 293 million

Monthly Active Users (MAUs) climbed 12% Y/Y to 761 million

Total Revenue increased 14% Y/Y constant currency* to 4.5 billion

Gross Margin improved by 140 bps Y/Y to 33%

Operating Income reached 715 million

In Q1 2026, we offered listeners even more ways to discover and connect with the music, podcasts, and audiobooks they love, while supporting creators, artists, authors and partners with more tools to grow on Spotify. Take a look at Spotify's Q1 2026 results below:

Putting Discovery and Control Directly in Listeners' Hands

Shape Your Taste Profile on Spotify

Taste Profile lets users see how Spotify understands their taste and shape it themselves, giving them the ability to steer what they see on the Spotify homepage. This new beta feature is rolling out to Premium listeners in New Zealand with more markets to follow.

Prompted Playlist Expands to Podcasts and More Premium Listeners

Prompted Playlist in beta expanded to Premium listeners across the U.S. and Canada, giving them a new way to describe exactly what they want to hear using their own words and put meaningful control of the algorithm directly in their hands. Prompted Playlists have also expanded beyond music to now include podcasts.

SongDNA Reveals the Creative Connections Behind Your Favorite Tracks

Rolling out to Premium users globally, our new beta feature, SongDNA, gives fans an immersive way to explore the writers, producers, collaborators, samples, interpolations, and covers behind the music they love.

About the Song Introduces a New Way to Explore the Stories Behind the Music

Rolling out in select markets in beta, About the Song brings stories and context directly into the listening experience through short, swipeable cards that explore the meaning behind the music listeners are hearing.

Audiobook Charts Help Users Discover Their Next Great Listen

Audiobook Charts make it easier for listeners in the U.S. and U.K. to discover what's popular and trending on Spotify, with weekly rankings of top audiobooks overall and by genre.

Connecting Fans with the Artists They Love

Bad Bunny Brings Billions Club Live to Tokyo

Bad Bunny made history with his first-ever performance in Asia, taking the stage in Tokyo for a one-night-only Billions Club Live concert to more than 2,300 top fans. Spotify then brought that unforgettable night to fans around the world with the premiere of Billions Club Live with Bad Bunny: A Concert Film.

BTS and Spotify Bring ARIRANG' to Top Fans in New York City

As part of Spotify x BTS: SWIMSIDE, BTS took the stage at Pier 17 for their first U.S. performance in four years, celebrating ARIRANG with more than 1,000 top local fans. After the show, the group sat down with Suki Waterhouse for a Q&A, sharing exclusive insights into the making of the album and their return to music.

Supporting Creators and Partners Across the Ecosystem

Spotify's Loud & Clear Report Reveals a Thriving Industry

For another year, Spotify was the highest-paying retailer globally, paying the music industry more than $11 billion in 2025 and bringing our all-time total to nearly $70 billion. Our annual report on the economics of music streaming shows the significant growth and structural shifts that have reshaped the business, particularly over the last decade.

New Formats, Tools, and Research Help Brands Become Part of the Fan Experience

We introduced new ad formats and tools, including Sponsored Playlists, Carousel Ads, Split Testing, and Automated Bid, while sharing new research designed to help advertisers tap into and surround fandom to drive real results.

Supporting Podcast Creators at Every Stage of Growth

Through new Spotify Partner Program updates, we continue to spotlight how creators are building more sustainable businesses one year in. We also celebrated a defining cultural moment for podcasting as Good Hang with Amy Poehler, from The Ringer, won the inaugural Golden Globe award for Best Podcast.

B-LINE Is Here to Help the U.S. Music Community

In partnership with Backline, we supported the launch of B-LINE, a 24/7 mental health and crisis support line created exclusively for the U.S. music community, including artists, their teams, and their families.

Read our full earnings results here and listen to the webcast Q&A

LINK:	https://newsroom.spotify.com/2026-04-28/spotify-q1-2026-earnings/...
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