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# All-important percentage of Spotify paid vs. free users keeps falling
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/all-important-percentage-of-spotify-paid-vs-free-users-keeps-falling/
- Published: 2023-04-26T14:58:24.000Z
- Updated: 2023-04-26T14:58:28.000Z
- Description: Spotify added 26 million users in the first three months of 2023, hitting a record 515 million active monthly users. Paid subscribers grew by 5 million to 210 million. Both. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2023/04/all-important-percentage-of-spotify-paid-vs-free-users-keeps-falling
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: Music Business, Streaming, music, music industry, Music Tech, musician, musicians, Spotify, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 09:44

Spotify added 26 million users in the first three months of 2023, hitting a record 515 million active monthly users. Paid subscribers grew by 5 million to 210 million.

Both are impressive numbers, but the ratio of paid to free subscribers is falling steadily. This matters because ad-supported free streaming pays artists and labels far less than paid streaming.

In Q1 2019, 46% of Spotify’s overall user base paid to stream. That fell to 45% in Q1 2020, 44% in Q1 2021, and 43% in Q1 last year. In Q1 2023, just 40% of Spotify users were paid Premiim subscribers.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/95/3a957c06-c825-4057-9939-0a274cc16d23/content/images/www-hypebot-com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/shareholder-deck-q1-2023-final-pdf.png)

Financially that meant that in Q1, 60% of users represented $361 million in ad revenue vs. the 40% that generated almost $2.96 billion in paid subscription revenue.

Some of this year’s drop could be users worried about the economy shifting to the robust free service from Sporitfy Preium of a more expensive Apple Music, Amazon Music Premium, or TIDAL account.

But the overall year-on-year trend has to be troubling for Spotify and its label partners.

#### MORE: [Spotify reports solid growth as monthly users top 515M, margins improve](https://www.hypebot.com/spotify-reports-solid-growth-as-monthly-users-top-515m/)

**Bruce Houghton* is the Founder and Editor of [Hypebot](https://www.hypebot.com/) and [MusicThinkTank](http://www.musicthinktank.com/?ref=hypebot.com), a Senior Advisor at [Bandsintown](https://www.bandsintown.com/?ref=hypebot.com), President of the[ Skyline Artists Agency](https://skylineonline.com/?ref=hypebot.com), and a professor for the [Berklee College Of Music](https://online.berklee.edu/courses/touring-101?ref=hypebot.com).*