“Not every decision will yield immediate returns, and our progress is not always linear,” said Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek on a call after quarterly numbers. Revenue and income fell short of forecasts while subscribers were a beat.
Net subscriber additions rose 30% in the first half of 2025 vs 2024 and Ek said 3% of the global population subscribes to Spotify so “it’s not impossible to imagine reaching 10% or 15%” as the Stockholm-based company builds out. “We don’t make decisions to achieve specific, short term quarterly outcomes.”
Subscribers climbed 12% year-on-year to 276 million for the three months ended in June, and hit a 100-million milestone in Europe, its largest market. Monthly active users rose 11% to 696 million.
Spotify posted a net loss with revenue up 10% €4.2 billion ($4.84 billion) but short of forecasts as was operating income of about $468 million. The company cited higher payroll and other expenses and an advertising business where “we know we need to move faster.”
In news this week, Lee Brown, the advertising sales veteran who has led Spotify’s ads business for six years, is leaving to join DoorDash as chief revenue officer.
“The main point to emphasize is that in ‘25 we are recalibrating the ads business … We are behind on the plan and we have high expectations across our businesses and we need to see more progress in ads and that hasn’t happened,” Ek said today.
Spotify shares, which can be volatile on earnings days, are down about 7% in early trading. They stock has surged about 120% over the past year with investors upbeat on advertising potential, price hikes and cost cuts. The company also tweaked its podcast policy to focus less on exclusivity.
