Spotify keeps approximately 30% of subscription and ad revenues. The remaining approximately 70% goes into one big pool. That pool is distributed based on sha

Spotify keeps approximately 30% of subscription and ad revenues. The remaining approximately 70% goes into one big pool. That pool is distributed based on share of total streams. So if there are 1 trillion streams total and an artist gets 1 billion of them, they get 0.1% of the entire payout pool. You are not paid by your listeners — you are paid in proportion to everyone else’s listening. So if you pay $10/month and listens only to niche artists: - your money still goes into the global pool - it is mostly paid out to Drake, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, etc. - even if you never listen to them