Of all one of the best music streaming companies, 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 remaining to return in the direction of bettering 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 any case, it’s the main music streaming platform on the market, so it must be setting an instance.
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Declutter its interface
That is considered one of my largest dislikes with the platform, and it’s a shared feeling amongst quite a lot of different subscribers too. Not like companies corresponding to Apple Music, which focuses on simplicity, Spotify’s interface is everywhere. 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 observe an artist.
Although you possibly can 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 rather a lot cleaner. And though Spotify is the winner in terms of options – as an illustration, there are six other ways to make a playlist – many of those will go unused by the common person. Transferring ahead, Spotify ought to suppose twice about investing in a brand new product characteristic if it doesn’t add worth to the general person expertise – maintaining issues easy goes a great distance.
Roll out labels for music that is utterly AI-generated
The criticisms in the direction of Spotify’s tolerance for totally AI-generated music won’t ever die – that’s until it begins being extra clear with customers. AI tags are the following step.
Its rivals are already beginning to deal with this, as an illustration, Deezer has developed its personal AI-detection instrument and Apple is testing ‘Transparency Tags’. The controversy round ‘what constitutes AI-generated music’ continues to be a scorching matter with Spotify. It appears that evidently the platform is uncertain whether or not to flag songs the place solely a tiny part is AI-generated. However whereas many customers can admire that, it is the slew of songs which can be utterly made utilizing AI that will get beneath 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 reside occasion listings that take you straight to the ticket gross sales websites. For one, it’s a useful approach 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 income 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 dealing with 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 corresponding to Music Venue Belief (MVT) for in a roundabout way investing in these venues. In 2022 Spotify got here beneath hearth for its staggering $235 million take care of FC Barcelona, with MVT arguing that such funds might’ve been used to stop the closure of tons of of music venues. Spotify’s intentions with Youth Music are seemingly in the suitable place, however it positively must rethink its funding approaches.
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