Of all the very best music streaming providers, Spotify is the one one that provides perception into its payouts by its annual Loud and Clear report, and in 2025 it paid out a report $11 billion again to the business.
That’s round 70% of Spotify’s annual income, leaving the remainder to return in direction of enhancing the Spotify expertise. There’s no denying that Spotify is all the time searching for methods to enhance music discovery and welcome new personalization instruments, however for me there are different areas that want prioritizing.
On the finish of the day, Spotify is producing extra annual income than it has in earlier years, leaving the corporate with extra leftover funds to take a position – not solely within the enterprise itself – but in addition in exterior areas, the place it has an obligation to supply help. In spite of everything, it’s the main music streaming platform on the market, so it ought to be setting an instance.
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Declutter its interface
(Picture credit score: Future)
That is one among my greatest dislikes with the platform, and it’s a shared feeling amongst plenty of different subscribers too. In contrast to providers resembling Apple Music, which focuses on simplicity, Spotify’s interface is all over. That is very true of its Library tab, which appears to get messier every time I make a brand new playlist, save a brand new album, or comply with an artist.
Although you may filter your Library by playlist, album, and artist, it’s fairly fiddly and never the prettiest to have a look at, whereas Apple Music’s Library feels so much cleaner. And though Spotify is the winner relating to options – for example, there are six alternative ways to make a playlist – many of those will go unused by the typical consumer. Shifting ahead, Spotify ought to assume twice about investing in a brand new product function if it doesn’t add worth to the general consumer expertise – preserving issues easy goes a good distance.
Roll out labels for music that is fully AI-generated
Deezer is one instance of a music streaming platform that has began flagging songs which might be fully AI-generated (Picture credit score: Future)
The criticisms in direction of Spotify’s tolerance for totally AI-generated music won’t ever die – that’s except it begins being extra clear with customers. AI tags are the following step.
Its rivals are already beginning to deal with this, for example, Deezer has developed its personal AI-detection software and Apple is testing ‘Transparency Tags’. The controversy round ‘what constitutes AI-generated music’ remains to be a scorching subject with Spotify. Plainly the platform is uncertain whether or not to flag songs the place solely a tiny part is AI-generated. However whereas many customers can recognize that, it is the slew of songs which might be fully made utilizing AI that will get underneath their pores and skin, greater than something.
Make investments instantly into grassroots venues
In Spotify’s Loud and Clear report, the platform shared that it drove $1.5 billion in live performance ticket income, due to its integration of stay occasion listings that take you straight to the ticket gross sales websites. For one, it’s a useful method to unfold the phrase about artists touring your space and get extra music followers to attend gigs in grassroots venues. However Spotify has greater than sufficient earnings to take a position instantly in these areas.
That’s to not say Spotify hasn’t contributed. Again in 2024, Spotify partnered with a UK-based group Youth Music to arrange a fund to help 15 grassroots venues going through closure. The partnership was an extension of Spotify’s Creator Fairness Fund Program, and has prolonged its dedication to serving to grassroots into 2026.
Although Spotify has these initiatives in place, the platform has confronted criticisms from organizations resembling Music Venue Belief (MVT) for indirectly investing in these venues. In 2022 Spotify got here underneath hearth for its staggering $235 million cope with FC Barcelona, with MVT arguing that such funds might’ve been used to stop the closure of a whole bunch of music venues. Spotify’s intentions with Youth Music are seemingly in the fitting place, however it positively must rethink its funding approaches.
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