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Sadly Spotify doesn’t work this way. You may think if you spend $20 on Spotify that the firm takes say 50% and the rest is distributed in proportion to what you

by chgs 3y ago

Sadly Spotify doesn’t work this way. You may think if you spend $20 on Spotify that the firm takes say 50% and the rest is distributed in proportion to what you listen to. If you just listen to say Jason Donovan’s greatest hit on repeat that he gets the $10, or if you listen to 10 different opera singers evenly they get $1 each. Instead your money goes almost entirely to Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift - artists you may not have listened to even once.

nsteel 3y ago
And here's a source for the above https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/royalties/ https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/royalties/
mat0 3y ago
This is sad af. We've been discussing with my wife of cancelling our Spotify subscription. This is actually a good reason to do so.
earthnail 3y ago
Spotify takes 30%; the rest is distributed somewhat in proportion to what you listen to. Really small payouts (like $1) don't happen because they opened the floodgates for streamcount fraud (ppl just faking streams on fake artists - yes, that's a thing) while making absolutely no difference to regular small artists. The distribution among all artists isn't equal but the result of very complicated licensing deals with the various major labels. The deals change every year, and the parties negotiate super hard. It's quite common for a deal for, say, 2023, to only be finalised in November 2023 - i.e. 11 months late. It's ridiculous but that's how it is. Most of the complexity behind the payouts stems back to the special treatments the three majors want for their artists. After all, they need something special to offer to their roster. And since they have the most important artists, they have the negotiating power to pull this stuff off. Source: worked at Spotify in the content team.
- chgs 3y ago
  Stream share in aggregate. If I pay $14 a month and listen to Chesney’s “I am the one and only” 100 times in that month he should get $10 and Spotify $4. That’s not what happens. What’s the benefit in me listening to a fake artist that is me? I would get $10 back for the $14 I spend. Seems like a lot of effort to go to. You could argue that as Chesney has a label that’s upto him and his rights holder. Fine. What about Dave Smith , my local crooner down the pub. If all I listen to is him why doesn’t he get the $10?
  - kalleboo 3y ago
    > What’s the benefit in me listening to a fake artist that is me? My guess would be on the free tier, not the paid tier

by chgs 3y ago

nsteel 3y ago

And here's a source for the above https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/royalties/ https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/royalties/

mat0 3y ago

This is sad af. We've been discussing with my wife of cancelling our Spotify subscription. This is actually a good reason to do so.

earthnail 3y ago

Spotify takes 30%; the rest is distributed somewhat in proportion to what you listen to. Really small payouts (like $1) don't happen because they opened the floodgates for streamcount fraud (ppl just faking streams on fake artists - yes, that's a thing) while making absolutely no difference to regular small artists. The distribution among all artists isn't equal but the result of very complicated licensing deals with the various major labels. The deals change every year, and the parties negotiate super hard. It's quite common for a deal for, say, 2023, to only be finalised in November 2023 - i.e. 11 months late. It's ridiculous but that's how it is. Most of the complexity behind the payouts stems back to the special treatments the three majors want for their artists. After all, they need something special to offer to their roster. And since they have the most important artists, they have the negotiating power to pull this stuff off. Source: worked at Spotify in the content team.

chgs 3y ago
Stream share in aggregate. If I pay $14 a month and listen to Chesney’s “I am the one and only” 100 times in that month he should get $10 and Spotify $4. That’s not what happens. What’s the benefit in me listening to a fake artist that is me? I would get $10 back for the $14 I spend. Seems like a lot of effort to go to. You could argue that as Chesney has a label that’s upto him and his rights holder. Fine. What about Dave Smith , my local crooner down the pub. If all I listen to is him why doesn’t he get the $10?
- kalleboo 3y ago
  > What’s the benefit in me listening to a fake artist that is me? My guess would be on the free tier, not the paid tier