Spotify reports $11B in 2025 royalties, but artist payouts remain uneven

Spotify announced it paid more than $11 billion in royalties in 2025, about 30% of the recording industry’s revenue, but the money goes to rightsholders (labels, distributors, publishers) rather than directly to artists; roughly half of the royalties went to independent artists and labels, while payouts for indie acts can vary widely and artists with fewer than 1,000 streams receive no payout; 12,500+ artists earned over $100k in royalties in 2024, with 2025 figures due in March; per-stream payments depend on the pool size and deals, and Spotify is promising new anti-fraud measures and greater human curation to address criticism.