Rachel Warren

Operating income rose 47% year over year.

Premium scribers grew 10% year over year.

And you had about $3 billion in free cash flow for the entire 12-month period.

And we're also, I think, seeing a bit of a shift where companies like Spotify are really prioritizing average revenue per user over raw user acquisition.

Now, Spotify has raised their prices in the US twice in the last 18 months.

And the CFO has noted that pricing is actually expected to outpace content costs in 2026.

And I think it shows that users seem to be willing to absorb higher costs to keep their curated libraries, whether it's music, podcasts, or otherwise.

This is a trend we're seeing in the space, right?

I mean, platforms are increasingly consolidating their services.

They're moving towards more cable-like bundles, so to speak.

It's funny to say that, to sustain their margins.

I think that this is going to have to be a very careful approach, though.

I mean, Spotify seems to be executing it quite well.

If they and others do too many of these price increases, though, you could have some subscription fatigue among the more budget-conscious users.

But for now, this is a strategy that seems to be working.

And I think that that is really apparent in Spotify's financial results.

This is a much better and stronger company than it was five years ago.

I think in the short term, that's very much a distinct possibility.

There's a few reasons for that, but a lot of it also comes down to the disparity in spending power that we're seeing among consumers.

You've got, as of late 2025, the top 20% of earners, and this includes households that earn over $150,000 a year, the top 20% of earners accounted for about 60% of all personal outlays.