The average Spotify listener streams 3 to 4 times more music per month than the average listener of other streaming services.
We learn this from third-party industry data: Spotify drives ~70% of total on-demand audio streams (Luminate 2025, ex-China) even though just ~40% of global streaming users are on Spotify (MIDiA, ex-China). Put differently: If Spotify’s 40% of listeners in the world that stream music account for 70% of all streams — and everyone else’s 60% of listeners only account for the remaining 30% — that tells us that the average Spotify listener streams about 3 to 4x more music per month than the average listener on other services.
The most active music listeners are on Spotify, and that engagement is what drives the economics of streaming. Today, an average Spotify subscriber listens to more than 200 different artists a month, and nearly half of those are artists they’re discovering for the first time, which is an amazing thing for the music industry. This fact — that Spotify users listen to and discover more music — is a really key driver of bigger payouts for artists, but it also drives a major misconception.
You’ve probably heard people compare “per-stream rates” across services. But the reality is simple: No service pays a fixed amount per stream — because listeners don’t pay per stream either, they pay for access. Any “rate” is calculated afterward by dividing total payouts by total streams. Since subscription services are similarly priced, the biggest driver of a so-called “per-stream rate” is how much fans actually stream. If a service has really big music fans who stream 3-4 times more music per month, that’s great for growing royalties, but makes the “per-stream rate” appear lower.
If a service is bragging about a high “per-stream rate,” they’re actually just telling you their average user doesn’t stream very much music. A service where fans listen only occasionally will generate fewer streams, a smaller royalty pool, and less total income for artists — no matter how the “rate” is framed. A service where fans listen daily, discover new music, and stay engaged is best at acquiring and retaining paying subscribers and growing the royalty pool for everyone.