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Has this payout structure been conclusively documented? I mean specifically the part about obscure artists getting absolutely nothing. I know a couple of relat

Has this payout structure been conclusively documented? I mean specifically the part about obscure artists getting absolutely nothing. I know a couple of relatively obscure bands personally, and they do get something from Spotify. It's not much, but they do get a little bit. They consider streaming more as advertising that gets their name out there and their music easily accessible, but they make most of the actual money from shows and merch. E: Artists can see their playcount stats and payouts here: https://artists.spotify.com https://artists.spotify.com and as far as I know, even niche artists are paid the $0.006 per song, not just the biggest players. E2: I am a huge fan of the Bandcamp model, though. Most of the time I find music there that isn't on Spotify, and I've also bought albums on there even though they're on Spotify as well, because I want to support the artists directly. I have completely stopped buying physical albums.

einr 9y ago
It's not as simple as I made it out to be, of course, because the music industry is a confusing and terrible thing, but the point basically stands: no one except Spotify and record label execs makes anything more than rounding errors from Spotify streaming. You need millions of plays to make minimum wage. There used to be a FAQ entry on spotifyartists.com about royalties and the complex formulae by which they are divided amongst the various parties entitled to slices of those precious fractions of a cent, but I can't find it now. (That's right: on a promotional site directed towards artists, aimed to encourage people to make their work available on Spotify, there is nothing anywhere about how they intend to pay you. Because honestly, they don't.)
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  >You need millions of plays to make minimum wage. You also need to sell a hell of a lot of albums every month, to make minimum wage. I do agree that they should pay artists more, but I consider it an issue with the record labels, rather than with Spotify.

einr 9y ago

It's not as simple as I made it out to be, of course, because the music industry is a confusing and terrible thing, but the point basically stands: no one except Spotify and record label execs makes anything more than rounding errors from Spotify streaming. You need millions of plays to make minimum wage. There used to be a FAQ entry on spotifyartists.com about royalties and the complex formulae by which they are divided amongst the various parties entitled to slices of those precious fractions of a cent, but I can't find it now. (That's right: on a promotional site directed towards artists, aimed to encourage people to make their work available on Spotify, there is nothing anywhere about how they intend to pay you. Because honestly, they don't.)

KozmoNau7 9y ago
>You need millions of plays to make minimum wage. You also need to sell a hell of a lot of albums every month, to make minimum wage. I do agree that they should pay artists more, but I consider it an issue with the record labels, rather than with Spotify.