That's because the major labels recognized they had Spotify over a barrel. The bulk of that revenue isn't going to the artists. Indie artists are probably the

That's because the major labels recognized they had Spotify over a barrel. The bulk of that revenue isn't going to the artists. Indie artists are probably the worst off, making something like $0.003 per stream. So a modestly successful independent artist with 100,000 monthly listeners is making $300/month or $3600 a year. So why do they bother? Well, you get mixed in with more notable acts so maybe someone googles you and finds your bandcamp, where you can capture 80% of the revenue. I know artists who made more money selling cassettes on bandcamp in one month than they did on Spotify the whole year.