This week, Spotify released its fourth quarter 2022 financial performance. We ended 2022 confident that we had enhanced our product features and capabilities in a way users love, and made tremendous strides in positioning Spotify ahead of our competitors. The platform now has 489 million MAU (Monthly Active Users) globally (up 20% YoY), of which 295 million are ad-supported MAU (up 25% YoY) with ad-supported revenue growing 14% YoY.

The eighth annual Spotify Wrapped, once again, took the world of audio culture by storm, proving the unique connection Spotify has with its listeners. And our content library is now bigger than ever, with more than 100 million audio tracks, 5 million podcasts, and 500,000 audiobooks to explore.

Here are the top highlights from Q4, with a focus on opportunities for advertisers on Spotify:

1. The podcasting revolution is unfolding on Spotify—booming internationally, and giving both creators and advertisers access to millions of engaged listeners

To accompany Spotify’s 2022 Wrapped, we launched Podcaster Wrapped—a way to recognize creator achievements and offer an insight into listener behavior and the year’s podcast listening trends. This deep-dive showed that podcasts are truly global: Most are listened to in more than one country, and content creation grew more than 50% in Latin American countries like Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica¹.

Not only that, but our annual Podcast Trends Report showed that podcast downloads exploded in southern Europe in 2022—increasing by 298% in Spain, 244% in Italy, and 379% in France. We also saw significant listener growth across our youngest and oldest demographics: both teenagers (ages 13-17) and the 55+ category showed increased engagement, with 42%-49% growth. For global brands with diverse audiences, these heightened levels of engagement indicate the powerful reach potential of podcast advertising on Spotify.

In other news, Spotify also announced that Keep it Light Media would be joining Spotify’s Megaphone platform in the UK. The news meant that the podcast network’s flagship shows—including Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach, and Tom Davis and Romesh Ranganathan’s Wolf & Owl—would become available to advertisers via the Spotify Audience Network, adding further to the growing number of high-profile podcast titles advertisers can target with their podcast ad campaigns. In addition, Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s wildly popular Parenting Hell is now a Spotify Original & Exclusive, following the move.

2. Spotify continues to be at the forefront of audio culture, helping listeners celebrate their individuality and discover new audio content—including ads—on a global scale

The eighth annual edition of Spotify Wrapped further cemented its global status as a celebratory moment for pop culture and individuality. In November, we unveiled what the world had collectively obsessed over, voting with their ears to produce a star-studded series of Top 5 lists. Spotify listeners were also given the chance to discover their own personalized Spotify Wrapped, and show off their results on social media. Overall user engagement grew 30% YoY across 111 markets².

For advertisers, the Wrapped moment highlights how active and loyal Spotify listeners are. Now, over 6 in 10 are ad-supported, and—according to research—happy to hear ads in return for exceptional free content³.

On that note, notable Spotify ad campaigns from Q4 include one by Italian brand Lines who launched a new campaign in Italy focused on sharing useful tools and resources for women at risk of violence, and the Lifesaving Beats playlist created by the British Heart Foundation with the goal of helping listeners to learn CPR to the beat of a song they love.

3. Spotify is fast becoming a true all-in-one destination for everyone’s listening (and advertising) needs

As Q3 2022 drew to a close, we turned the page on another exciting Spotify chapter: Audiobooks. Available to listeners in the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the brand-new content format brought a vast catalog of audio content to the platform to feature alongside music and podcasts.

With the addition of Audiobooks to Spotify, we can say with confidence that we are one step closer to becoming the complete package for everyone’s listening needs.

Interested in reaching global Spotify listeners? Connect with a Spotify rep, or get started right away with Spotify Ad Studio, our self-serve ads manager.