Spotify announced two new creator monetization tools at its 2026 Investor Day in New York, introducing a licensed cover and remix tool for music fans and a subscription membership product for podcast creators.

Music Remix Tool Adds New Revenue Stream for Artists

The company reached licensing agreements with Universal Music Group and Universal Music Publishing Group to launch a tool allowing fans to create covers and remixes from participating artists’ and songwriters’ catalogs. The tool will launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users, with consent, credit, and compensation built into the product from the start.

Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s SVP and Global Head of Music, framed the tool as a response to the volume of AI-generated music derivatives entering the market without rights frameworks in place.

“Generative AI is accelerating creation at an unprecedented pace,” Hellman said. “Alongside new, original work, there’s a surge of covers, remixes, and reinterpretations built on existing music. Without a rights system in place, artists can lose control of their work, and value can be created without flowing back to the people who made it. This is exactly the kind of problem Spotify was built to solve.”

Spotify reports paying more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, a figure the company says represents more than double the growth rate of all other music revenue sources combined. All-time payouts now exceed $70 billion.

Podcast Memberships Open Direct Fan Revenue for Creators

On the podcast side, Spotify announced the upcoming launch of “Memberships,” a toolset that will allow eligible creators to offer paid subscriptions directly to their audiences on the platform. Roman Wasenmüller, VP and Global Head of Podcasts, said podcasts are now in their second year of profitability at Spotify, and that growth is accelerating.

The Memberships product extends Spotify’s existing creator infrastructure, which includes free hosting for audio and video content, integrated analytics, and monetization through the Spotify Partner Program. Earlier this month, Spotify expanded its video podcast distribution network through integrations with Libsyn, Podigee, Audioboom, Audiomeans, and Podspace, with Apple Podcasts video distribution support also planned for later this year.

Spotify reports that over 500 million users have streamed a video podcast on the platform, up nearly 50% year over year.

Targeting Superfan Spending

Both products align with a broader monetization strategy Spotify outlined at the event, centered on capturing spending from its most engaged users. Co-CEO Alex Norström described the approach as moving beyond a two-tier Free and Premium model toward a portfolio of higher average revenue per user products and add-ons.

More than one million users are already paying for Audiobooks+, a listening hour add-on Spotify launched within the past year. The company said Audiobooks+ is on track to reach $100 million in annualized recurring revenue by July 2026.

Spotify reported 761 million monthly active users and 293 million subscribers across 184 markets as of the Investor Day presentation.

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