In recent years, Spotify has recorded solid growth in the number of Premium subscribers: from 236 million in 2023 to around 263 million in 2024, an 11% increase, while monthly active users (MAU) grew by 12%, reaching 675 million. In the first half of 2025, growth continued: in Q2 Spotify counted 276 million subscribers (up 12% year-on-year) and 696 million MAU (+11%).

In 2024, Spotify achieved its first fully profitable year, with a net income of €1.14 billion on total revenues of €15.6 billion — a historic milestone for the platform. Nonetheless, warning signs remain. In Q2 2025, results fell short of expectations: revenues of €4.19 billion (versus €4.3 billion forecast) and operating profit of €406 million, lower than guidance.

Even more concerning, Q2 2025 saw a major reversal: a shift from net income of €274 million in Q2 2024 to a net loss of €86 million, mainly due to rising financial costs and the looming maturity of €1.9 billion in convertible bonds. On top of that, rising operating expenses — wages, marketing, stock-based taxes, and multi-currency costs — further squeezed margins.

Daniel Ek’s Controversial Investment in the Military Sector

In June 2025, Daniel Ek — Spotify’s founder and CEO — decided to invest €600 million in Helsing, a German startup developing military technologies with artificial intelligence, particularly autonomous combat drones. This deal boosted the company’s valuation to around €12 billion, making it one of the most important private tech firms in Europe.

Founded in 2021, Helsing originally built software for tactical analysis but pivoted in 2023 to manufacturing military hardware. Its HX-2 drone — designed to operate in coordinated swarms and immune to GPS interference — is its most recent innovation.

The investment was made through Prima Materia, Ek’s venture capital firm, which has allowed him to cash out hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Spotify stock while maintaining roughly 30% of the company’s voting rights.

Small Artists: Exploited and Unpaid

One of Spotify’s most damaging policies concerns tracks with fewer than 1,000 streams per year. Since 2024, these plays generate no royalties for artists. In other words: musicians who don’t cross that threshold receive nothing at all.

The irony is striking: small, independent artists — who make up the vast majority of the catalog — enrich Spotify’s library, making it attractive, diverse, and competitive, yet they remain unpaid. They are the ones who keep the platform afloat, since without the quantity and variety of indie music, Spotify wouldn’t be the global music ecosystem it is today.

Subscribers are thus paying for a service that exploits grassroots musicians, while part of the wealth generated ends up indirectly financing military technology through Ek’s investments.

Industry and Artist Backlash

Daniel Ek’s move into weapons tech has sparked outrage in the music world. Bands like Xiu Xiu have announced the removal of their music from the platform, describing Spotify as a “violent armageddon portal.”

These reactions amplify the frustration of small musicians already penalized by the “zero royalties under 1,000 streams” rule, who now see subscriber money funneled, indirectly, into military ventures.

Why This Deserves Criticism

1. Spotify’s model relies on constant subscriber payments, with regular price hikes.
2. Users are paying for music, not war.
3. Small artists are exploited twice: unpaid for their work but essential to Spotify’s value.
4. There’s a glaring values conflict: cultural production fuels military industry.

Spotify remains a streaming giant, but its image is increasingly contradictory: on the one hand growth and profits, on the other debt, shrinking margins, and internal policies that punish the weakest.

The ethical dilemma persists: is it worth paying more for a subscription if that money indirectly supports a system that exploits small artists and funds military technology?

The answer, ultimately, lies with the listeners and the artists — who, now more than ever, hold the power to decide which future they want for music.