Spotify generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream.
Yesterday, the streaming behemoth Spotify launched their ‘Loud & Clear’ initiative with which they intend to provide transparency in terms of reporting how it distributes the money it obtains from subscriptions and advertising. The Swedish company shared a video further explaining and set up a special website.
Among other figures, the platform has revealed that 870 artists generated more than $1 million in royalties in 2020; 1,820 exceeded $500,000; 7,800 made around $100,000; and 13,400 managed to reach $50,000.
The issue has been generating traction for a while now, and especially in recent weeks when SoundCloud announced a change in their royalty payment model, focused on a mechanic where the money generated by the reproductions of each user goes directly to the artists they listen to. It’s also worth noting that this past weekend, the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers called for a series of protests in front of the offices of the Swedish platform to tackle this same issue.
For its part, the Union Of Musicians and Allied Workers responded yesterday to Spotify’s initiative with a thread on Twitter, in which they state that the company has not complied with any of their requests: nor is the company transparent regarding its contracts with the ‘majors’, nor does it explain the payment system for the playlists; They neither speak of Spotify’s struggle to try to lower royalties for lyricists nor have they agreed to change their payment model so that artists receive a penny for each reproduction.
Watch Spotify’s video for the ‘Loud & Clear’ initiative.
