Spotify Says AI Remix Tool Has ‘Strong Momentum’ and AI Investments Are ‘In Our Control’
Categoria: Musica
Spotify's Q2 results beat on subscriber growth, gross margin and operating income, while monthly active users grew by slightly less than expected.
Por Billboard | 04/08/2026
Spotify said on Tuesday (Aug. 4) it added one million more new premium subscribers in the second quarter than expected, which helped to offset a slight miss on its guidance for total monthly user growth and helped meet revenue growth targets. Spotify’s total 777 million monthly average users generated 14% revenue growth of 4.777 million euros, in line with earlier guidance. The streamer beat guidance on its all-important gross margin, which expanded by 193 basis points to 33.4%, and on operating income, which totaled 655 million euros. Related Merlin Signs Licensing Agreement With Spotify for AI Remixing Tool BE:FIRST Is Ready for the World: Inside the J-Pop Superstars' Long-Planned U.S. Breakthrough Glenn A. Baker, Australian Music Historian and Former Billboard Correspondent, Dies at 74 This was the first time Spotify’s co-CEOs Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström had spoken publicly to investors and analysts following the company’s investor presentation day in May, and they said new products like their ticket reservation , AI playlisting and remixing tools showed strong momentum, while investments in AI and marketing were “entirely in our control.” Operating expenses rose 3% to 941 million euros on investments in technology, including AI, and marketing, the company said. The company’s stock was down 1.5% to $479 a share at 1 p.m. in New York. Here are the highlights from Spotify’s second-quarter earnings and key takeaways from a conference call held by its top executives. Gross profit rose 21% to 1.6 billion euros. Gross profit margin expanded to 33.4%. Seven million net new premium subscribers from Q1 beat earlier guidance for six million net new subscribers, for 300 million total premium subscribers. Spotify added 11 million net new ad-supported monthly active users (MAUs) for a total of 494 million. Net new MAUs of 16 million missed targets for 17 million and brought total MAUs to 777 million. Operating income of 655 million euros represented a 13.7% margin. Revenue from premium subscribers rose 15% to 4.3 billion euros from a year ago. Revenue from ad-supported users edged just 1% higher to 446 million euros. Operating expenses rose 3% to 941 million euros. Artist Adoption vs. Label License Agreements for AI Remix Tool Indie label collective Merlin announced it is joining Universal Music Group (UMG) in licensing the music of artists and creators who opt in to be remixed by certain Spotify premium subscribers using AI tools. Artists, songwriters and others covered by Merlin and UMG’s agreements must agree to participate, and Spotify says they will compensate and credit them through the soon-to-be-launched tool. Asked by analyst Rich Greenfield if they were surprised more artists were not consenting for their music to be used for the initiative, Söderström said they know many are skeptical of AI music, but they are seeing strong momentum for the idea. “What we’re doing is s