Sweden
Spotify is the world's largest music-streaming platform and one of Europe's biggest tech success stories, founded in Stockholm in 2006. By the end of 2025 it had grown to roughly 750 million monthly users, of which around 290 million pay for a subscription, and it bundles podcasts and audiobooks alongside music.
Spotify is worth including with eyes open: while it is a genuine European champion, it has been widely criticised for paying artists only fractions of a cent per stream. Spotify operates in about 180 markets worldwide.
