Recent moves include opening a new Hollywood recording studio, launching shows with Netflix, and expanding its creator monetization programs.

Leadership changes at the start of 2026 saw the founder move to executive chairman, with two co-CEOs named to steer the company.

Spotify emphasized enhanced storytelling and discovery through SongDNA and expanded video/contextual storytelling to connect listeners with artists.

Spotify paid out more than $11 billion in 2025 to rights-holders—labels, publishers, and distributors—marking the largest single-entity payout in history and bringing total royalties since launch to almost $70 billion, with independent artists and labels making up about half of those payouts.

The company highlighted strong momentum in its creator ecosystem, noting more artists earning six figures from Spotify and expanded reach in podcasts and audio content.

Two-thirds of music revenue goes to rights-holders first, while the remainder is reinvested into platform innovations to attract and retain subscribers.

Spotify plans to add more human editorial input and new programs to support emerging artists, aiming to turn early recognition into sustained momentum and address critiques of purely algorithm-driven discovery.

The platform has consolidated market power with policies like a minimum stream threshold to curb fraud and favor “professional” artists, a shift praised by some rights holders but criticized by independents for potentially sidelining niche genres.

To counter AI-related risks, Spotify will tighten controls on AI-generated content with Artist Identity & Trust tools, improved artist verification, and more precise song credits.

Artist identity protection efforts center on preventing impersonation and fraud, refining verification and credits to safeguard royalties in an AI-rich environment.

The company’s strategy emphasizes countering AI misuse through human-curated content, robust artist verification, and trusted credits to protect artists and platform credibility.

Exact distribution to individual artists remains opaque and varies by contract with labels and distributors.