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Spotify’s Premium customers grew to 300 million in the second quarter of 2026, after the music streamer gained 7 million paying subscribers, exceeding its previous guidance.
Total monthly active users, including those
on the free, ad-supported tier, stood at 777 million as of the end of Q2. That slightly undershot previous guidance of 778 million, which the company attributed to ongoing “product optimizations” in the quarter.
For Q2, the company reported revenue of €4.78 billion, up 14% and in line with its forecast. Operating income came in at €655 million and gross margin hit an all-time high of 33.4% (above previous guidance of €630 million and 33.1%, respectively). Net income was €545 million, compared with a net loss of -€86 million in the year-ago period.
Subscription revenue in the quarter grew 15% to €4.33 billion, while ad revenue inched up 1% to €446 million. Spotify said the improvement in gross margin in Q2 was driven by Premium gains (as revenue growth outpaced music costs net of marketplace programs, audiobooks costs and video podcast costs). On the ad-supported side, gains were driven by “favorable podcast and tax impacts, which more than offset music costs” and other costs of revenue.
For Q3, Spotify expects revenue of €5.0 billion, operating income of €670 million and gross margin of 32.9%. It projects Premium subscribers of 305 million and total monthly active users of 788 million (implying the addition of approximately 11 million net new MAUs in the quarter).
Spotify called out the launch of new initiatives in Q2 including Reserved in the U.S., which gives an artist’s most dedicated fans exclusive early access to concert tickets, and Personal Podcasts, letting users generate personalized AI-powered audio episodes.
On Tuesday alongside the Q2 earnings results, Spotify announced a new agreement with Merlin for Spotify’s upcoming fan-made covers and remixing tool, which gives artists on labels under Merlin’s Spotify agreement the option to participate. As previously announced, Spotify’s tool will launch as a paid add-on, which “will create an additional revenue stream for participating artists,” the streamer said.
Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström said in announcing the results, “We have a scale that few companies in history have reached, a business that is healthy and compounding, and opportunities only we are positioned to pursue. Spotify lives across your whole day — the commute, the workout, studying, gaming, the dinner table, and sleep. At our scale, that is rare… Our position gives us an opportunity space as wide as our users want it to be.”
Co-CEO Gustav Söderström added, “This quarter demonstrated that we are already building that future: better engineering, faster shipping, new products and new ways for users to engage. We are still in the very early stages of what is possible and will continue to have a high bar for investments… Our job remains the same: understand the technology early and deeply, and turn it into something people love. Creating value for our stakeholders.”
