More on Spotify metrics

Based on the best data I can find, last year Spotify had 602 million active users as of early 2025, with about 42% of those users being paid subscribers (less than half!). Additionally, 2/3 of the people on premium are on it with some sort of incentive that gets them access for free or at a discounted rate (usually something like bundled in with their cell service).

And according to this data, only about 12% of their revenue comes from advertising. Put another way, 58% of Spotify's users account for 12% of the revenue. Put still another way (and if my ballpark math is right), if a Spotify subscription is $10 per month:

• A third of the premium subscribers are paying $10
• Two-thirds of premium subscribers are generating some amount less than $10
• Free users are generating about $1

Now, I'm sure these metrics are somehow off a bit, but you get the idea. If a free user especially contributes about $12 to Spotify over a year and listens to thousands of songs by hundreds of artists, how exactly would you split that $12 up in a way that's fair to all those artists?