Spotify have launched their 2025 Wrapped feature.
Spotify Wrapped 2025
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Reports: Spotify to Raise Prices Next Year
Spotify is planning to raise subscription prices in the U.S. in the first quarter of next year, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The move will mark the streaming service’s first price rise in the US since July 2024. The company recently raised prices in several other countries, including the U.K., Switzerland, and Australia.
A Spotify subscription currently costs $11.99 a month in the U.S. When the service first launched in the country 14 years ago, it cost $9.99 per month.
The report says JPMorgan analysts have estimated that a $1-per-month price increase in the U.S. could increase Spotify’s annual revenue by about $500 million.
Spotify Buys WhoSampled
Spotify has acquired WhoSampled.
This marks an exciting new chapter in our journey – one where WhoSampled will not only continue to grow and improve, but also bring its unique flavor of music discovery to the world’s largest music streaming platform, used and loved by hundreds of millions of fans.
Through our recent discussions with Spotify, it became clear that we share a strong belief in the power of musical context – and a vision for helping listeners go deeper into the songs they love. Spotify has shown a genuine commitment to our mission, and we couldn’t have found a better home for WhoSampled.
From Spotify:
Starting today, we’re expanding the Song Credits you see on Spotify to highlight all of the contributors who make each song possible, from producers and engineers to songwriters and featured artists. (Previously, our Song Credits only featured topline performance, songwriting, and production credits.) The rollout will start on mobile and continue to desktop over the coming months. These credits come directly from labels and artist distributors, so keeping them up to date through your label or distributor is the best way to make sure everyone is recognized.
Blink-182’s “I Miss You” Joins the Three Comma Club
Blink-182’s “I Miss You” has joined Spotify’s billion streams club. It is the band’s second song to hit this mark after “All the Small Things.”
Spotify Reports Increase in Revenue and Subscribers
Ashley Carman, writing for Bloomberg:
Monthly active users climbed 11% from a year earlier to 713 million, exceeding analysts’ estimates of 710.6 million. The Stockholm-based company said revenue gained 7% to €4.27 billion ($4.9 billion), also beating expectations. Premium subscribers were roughly in line with projections.
Thursday Issues Statement on Spotify Ads
Thursday have spoken out against Spotify running ICE ads.
Read More “Thursday Issues Statement on Spotify Ads”Spotify Won’t Stop ICE Recruitment Ads
“This advertisement is part of a broad campaign the US government is running across television, streaming, and online channels,” Spotify said in a statement. “The content does not violate our advertising policies. However, users can mark any ad with a thumbs up or thumbs down to help manage their ads preferences.”
Spotify users began noticing ICE recruitment ads earlier this week offering $50,000 signing bonuses, prompting a wave of boycott calls across social media. “I get an ad and it starts with, ‘millions of dangerous illegals are rampaging the streets. Join ICE today,’” user miss.mia777 posted on TikTok. “I don’t pick up my phone while driving. I picked up my phone with a quickness and deleted the app.” On reddit, boycott threads have quickly climbed to the top of r/music.
Daniel Ek to Step Down as Spotify CEO
As of Jan. 1, 2026, Ek will “transition” to the role of executive chairman of Spotify, the company said Tuesday. At that time, Gustav Söderström, currently co-president and chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer, will become Spotify’s co-CEO. Söderström and Norström will report to Ek and both will also serve on the company’s board of directors (subject to shareholder approval).
Spotify’s New DM Feature Has a Doxxing Vulnerability
Spotify’s new messaging feature—which is actually the newest iteration of a social messaging feature the streaming giant killed off in 2017 due to low engagement—wants to give users more control. It features encryption “in transit and at rest,” an option to reject message requests from others, and the option to opt out completely. But anything short of opting out of the feature will inadvertently introduce a doxxing risk by linking you to people with whom you’ve shared music in the past.
How Spotify’s Tool Went From ‘Payola’ Accusations to Widespread Use
Ashley Carman, writing for Bloomberg:
In 2020, Spotify made waves in the music industry with the announcement of a tool that would alter how people hear music on its platform: Discovery Mode, which allows labels and artists to accept a 30% reduction in royalties in exchange for an algorithmic boost. These promoted songs can show up in certain playlists , including Spotify Radio, autoplay and particular personalized selections. […]
The Discovery Mode tool has become a critical part of many marketing strategies, particularly around an album release or to promote a catalog. Almost everyone I spoke with emphasized that the tool alone won’t create new fans or offer long-lasting impact. It requires a more holistic strategy, meaning people might hear a song on Spotify because of Discovery Mode, but, at the same time, also encounter a billboard with the artist in question or hear the song in a TV show or on TikTok. Shortly thereafter, the artist might go on tour. This means artist teams try to be selective about what they include, though people I spoke with noted that both Spotify and distributors encouraged them to opt every song into it.
Spotify Investigating Playlist Bribery in Turkey
Turkish authorities have responded to the allegations, with the Turkish Competition Authority (RK) opening a formal investigation on July 4. That investigation will look into Spotify’s market practices, including allegations of playlist bribery, manipulation of royalties, and unfair advantages granted to certain artists or labels. The probe is broad and examines both anti-competitive behavior and broader content issues raised by these artists.
Spotify Stock Falls on Earnings Report
After posting solid MAUs growth – along with a net loss – for Q2 2025, Spotify has seen its stock price plummet by about 12% on the day.
In the appropriate earnings report, Spotify disclosed an average of 696 million MAUs, including 276 million paid subscribers. Both figures represent double-digit YoY improvements and exceeded guidance. […]
“However,” CEO Daniel Ek elaborated during the earnings call, “as I look at our progress, the one area that hasn’t yet met our expectations is our ads business. We’ve simply been moving too slowly, and it’s taking longer than expected to see the improvements we initiated to take hold. It’s really an execution challenge, not a problem with the strategy.”
AI Generated Songs Appearing on Dead Artists’ Spotify Pages
404 Media (paywalled) is reporting on how Spotify is allowing AI-Generated songs on various dead artists’ pages:
According to his official Spotify page, Blaze Foley, a country music singer-songwriter who was murdered in 1989, released a new song called “Together” last week. The song, which features a male country singer, piano, and an electric guitar, vaguely sounds like a new, slow country song. The Spotify page for the song also features an image of an AI-generated image of a man who looks nothing like Foley singing into a microphone.
Craig McDonald, the owner of Lost Art Records, the label that distributes all of Foley’s music and manages his Spotify page, told me that any Foley fan would instantly realize “Together” is not one of his songs.
Consequence has more:
Update: In a statement a spokesperson for Spotify said, “The content in question violates Spotify’s deceptive content policies, which prohibit impersonation intended to mislead, such as replicating another creator’s name, image, or description, or posing as a person, brand, or organization in a deceptive manner. This is not allowed. We take action against licensors and distributors who fail to police for this kind of fraud and those who commit repeated or egregious violations can and have been permanently removed from Spotify.”
Spotify Could Help Songwriters
Jeff Rabhan, writing for The Hollywood Reporter:
With a market cap now topping $145 billion, Spotify is worth more than most of the companies it licenses music from. Universal is valued at $56B. Warner? Just over $15.5 billion. And Ek? He’s sold more than $800 million in stock since 2023 alone — more than many of the songwriters on the platform have made combined. That’s not just a bad look. It’s a stat you can’t explain away.
Yes, he earned it. He helped assemble the biggest music library on earth. But when the guy holding the keys to the industry cashes out like a Silicon Valley titan while songwriters are still being paid like baristas, something’s broken. Ek’s net worth is closing in on $10 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. He can afford to lead — and it won’t cost him much to do it.
Hey Superman, Just Do Your Best (Just Do Your Best)
James Gunn has posted up Spotify playlists for characters from the upcoming Superman movie. I think this mean’s it’s now canon that Superman knows who Butch Walker and Nightmare of You are.
Read More “Hey Superman, Just Do Your Best (Just Do Your Best)”