> At the same time, a lot more people were listening to their music (and still are) This is true, but only because their music is cheap/free. If it cost more,

> At the same time, a lot more people were listening to their music (and still are) This is true, but only because their music is cheap/free. If it cost more, they would not be listening. The community part seems real, but that’s a function of streaming and digital music in general and not so much the payout amount. I think Spotify could triple the payout (by tripling the price to customers) and your friend would still make less.