I don't want this sound like yet another anti-label rant but as I see it, this is mostly a chicken-egg problem caused by the big labels, that are unlikely to be

I don't want this sound like yet another anti-label rant but as I see it, this is mostly a chicken-egg problem caused by the big labels, that are unlikely to be charging Spotify the same fee per stream but rather a flat fee that is so high that Spotify is still at loss and can't afford paying more to smaller players. I'd imagine if more artists went independent, things could be better both for them and Spotify.