Money from subscriptions can go to Spotify or artists. If money is going to Spotify for profit or services, that is their cut. That is the amount of money taken

Money from subscriptions can go to Spotify or artists. If money is going to Spotify for profit or services, that is their cut. That is the amount of money taken from artists to provide the service of Spotify. Any money in cost of revenue not going to artists for the purposes of running infra/maintenance, etc. is part of Spotify's cut. Therefore 26% is a lower bound and spotify may be taking more than 26% of the total money earned by subscriptions. We can assume that all gross profit did not go to artists, which means gross profit is the lower bound of Spotify's cut. I think you are asking what percent of profit do artists get, while I am asking what percent of income do artists get. I think when comparing this to the Apple App store. Apple is taking a 30% cut of income, not a 30% cut of profits, so asking what cut of income spotify is taking is appropriate.