Spotify does indeed pay artists per song stream. The rate is between $0.004 to $0.008 per stream, and a "stream" is counted every time someone listens to a song

Spotify does indeed pay artists per song stream. The rate is between $0.004 to $0.008 per stream, and a "stream" is counted every time someone listens to a song for at least 30 seconds. https://qz.com/1519823/is-spotify-making-songs-shorter/ https://qz.com/1519823/is-spotify-making-songs-shorter/ https://qz.com/quartzy/1438412/the-reason-why-your-favorite-pop-songs-are-getting-shorter/ https://qz.com/quartzy/1438412/the-reason-why-your-favorite-... Incidentally, this model incentivizes artists to release shorter songs and to squeeze more songs into albums. https://pitchfork.com/features/article/uncovering-how-streaming-is-changing-the-sound-of-pop/ https://pitchfork.com/features/article/uncovering-how-stream... https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/are-rap-albums-really-getting-longer/ https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/are-rap-albu... And an artist's new release isn't just competing with their old releases. It's also competing with releases from other artists.