Spotify’s first profitable fiscal year was 2024.
The company reported its first full-year net profit in fiscal 2024, earning about €1.14 billion. That milestone came after years of rapid user growth but persistent losses caused largely by music-licensing costs, operating expenses, investments in podcasts, and expansion into new audio formats.
Spotify had recorded occasional profitable quarters before 2024, but those short-term results are not the same as a profitable fiscal year. The distinction explains why 2024 is the canonical answer. A company can make money in one quarter while still reporting a loss across the entire year. Spotify’s annual results for 2023, by contrast, showed a net loss.
The turnaround reflected stronger revenue, pricing changes, improved margins, and cost-cutting measures, including workforce reductions. Spotify also continued developing podcasts and audiobooks alongside its core music business. The 2024 result therefore marked an important shift from growth-at-all-costs toward sustainable profitability, rather than the first time the service had ever posted any profitable reporting period.