Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

Spotify Technology S.A. reported on Tuesday that its monthly active users (MAU) for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 reached 761 million, an increase of 12% compared to the same period in fiscal 2025 and above analysts’ expectations, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

During the quarter, revenue rose 8% year-on-year to €4.5 billion, while the number of premium subscribers increased by 9%, reaching 293 million. Gross margin improved by 133 basis points on an annual basis, reaching 33%, and operating income surged 40% to €715 million.

For the second quarter of 2026, the audio streaming company expects operating income of €630 million, which came in below market forecasts. Spotify also projects total monthly active users to grow to around 778 million.

“Since the global rollout of our more personalized free experience, users in key markets like the US are listening and watching more days per month. All of this reinforces our confidence in sustained user and subscriber growth, low churn, and continued progress in revenue and margins,” said Co-CEO Alex Norström.

Spotify’s growth is increasingly being driven not just by music streaming, but also by podcasts and video content. The company has been steadily shifting toward a “multi-format platform” strategy, aiming to compete not only with Apple Music and Amazon Music, but also with YouTube in the broader audio-visual space.