That works when more streams = more money. When users pay for premium, the revenue is capped. Artist payout depends on their 'market share' and it's a zero-sum

That works when more streams = more money. When users pay for premium, the revenue is capped. Artist payout depends on their 'market share' and it's a zero-sum game. http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/#royalties-in-detail http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/#royalties-i... Let's say that there are 40 million paying users, all streaming 500 songs a month...and then there's me, who only streams 5 songs a month (I'm busy, and I like throwing money away). So, there's 20,000,000,005 total streams that month, and $400 million in revenue. Spotify takes their cut, which leaves $280 million. My artist's share, according to bc: echo '(5 / 20000000005) * 280000000' | bc -l .06999999998040000000 Seven cents. ADDED: To clarify, seven cents for five plays isn't a bad rate at all. From the user's perspective, though, it can be offputting that I'm attracted to the platform because of a certain set of artists, and then my money goes elsewhere. I understand why they do it. Popular acts attract users, and users mean money. They gotta feed the monkey.