{"id":252723,"date":"2026-03-11T15:54:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T15:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=252723"},"modified":"2026-03-11T19:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:35:29","slug":"80-artists-generated-10m-each-from-spotify-last-year-1500-generated-1m-heres-the-full-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/80-artists-generated-10m-each-from-spotify-last-year-1500-generated-1m-heres-the-full-breakdown\/","title":{"rendered":"80 artists generated $10M+ each from Spotify last year. Over 1,500 generated $1M+. Here’s the full breakdown."},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotify published its annual Loud & Clear<\/a> report today (March 11), which includes bundles of fresh data on what artists generated from its service in 2025.<\/p>\n

The headline numbers show growth\u00a0across the board.<\/p>\n

Spotify notes that a decade ago, the very top artist on the platform reached $10 million in annual royalties for the first time. Today, 80<\/strong> artists each generate more than $10 million<\/strong> annually from the platform alone.<\/p>\n

“As global superstars have graduated to the $10 million level,” Spotify says, “a whole class of career artists have reached the $1 million level” \u2013 more than 1,500<\/strong> strong in 2025.<\/p>\n

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Spotify says the number of artists earning at every threshold, from $1,000<\/strong> to $10 million<\/strong> per year, has at least tripled since 2017. But each tier in the pyramid tells its own story.<\/p>\n

As the breakdown below shows, from $1,000 to $1 million, the number of artists at each threshold has grown by between 220%<\/strong> and 250%<\/strong> since 2017 \u2013 steady, consistent expansion across the streaming middle class.<\/p>\n

At the $5 million<\/strong> threshold, artist numbers have grown by 360%<\/strong> since 2017. And at the $10 million<\/strong> level, that figure reaches +700%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In other words, according to Spotify’s data, more artists are earning at every level \u2013 but the growth is fastest at the very top.<\/p>\n

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Spotify has previously confirmed that it paid out more than $11 billion<\/strong> to music rightsholders in 2025 \u2014 up more than 10% on 2024, and bringing its lifetime total to nearly $70 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here is how the Loud & Clear data breaks down at each royalty threshold in 2025 (note: these figures represent total royalties generated on Spotify, inclusive of both recording and publishing. Spotify notes it does not have visibility into what artists ultimately take home after their arrangements with labels, distributors, and publishers):<\/p>\n