EL7.AI
StocksMedium•22 October 2026•
2 min read

Spotify reaches 788 million users, including 306 million subscribers, across 184 markets

Key Facts

1Spotify reports a base of 788 million users, including 306 million subscribers, across 184 markets.
2Paid subscriptions grew 9% year on year to 300 million in the second quarter of 2026.
3Second-quarter revenue rose 14% year on year to about 4.8 billion euros, and 15% at constant exchange rates.
4Second-quarter gross margin reached 33.4%, an annual improvement of about 193 basis points.
5The company expected marketing and artificial intelligence investments to add about 200 million euros to operating expenses during 2026.

Spotify's user base reached 788 million, including 306 million subscribers, according to figures published on its investor relations page. The company's services span 184 markets, according to the same page. These figures follow Spotify's announcement that paid subscribers reached 300 million in its results for the second quarter of 2026. Paid subscriptions grew 9% during that quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the earnings statement released in August. Monthly active users reached 777 million in the second quarter. The company said that base grew 12% year on year, outpacing growth in paid subscriptions over the same period.

On the financial front, Spotify reported a 14% increase in second-quarter revenue compared with the same period a year earlier, to about 4.8 billion euros. At constant exchange rates, annual revenue growth was 15%, according to the company's earnings statement for the second quarter of 2026. Revenue growth was accompanied by an improvement in gross margin, which reached 33.4% during the quarter. The improvement amounted to about 193 basis points compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the statement. Operating income was about 655 million euros over the same period. In a stock assessment ahead of the earnings announcement, Jefferies raised its price target to 620 dollars from 600 dollars, according to coverage published by Investing on 20 October 2026. The firm maintained its "Buy" recommendation alongside the price target revision.

Against this backdrop, Spotify's plans for the year included additional spending on marketing and artificial intelligence, according to comments made by Chief Financial Officer Christian Luiga in August and reported by Reuters. Luiga said these investments would add about 200 million euros to operating expenses during 2026. He described them as "investments related to marketing and artificial intelligence" while discussing the expected increase in expenses for the full year. Alongside those estimates, the company had announced its third-quarter operating income forecast in August. Spotify set that forecast at 670 million euros, according to Reuters, in guidance for the quarter following the period covered by the financial results announced at the time.