Spotify paid over $10B US to the music industry last year. How much actually makes it to the artists?

Samritha Arunasalam · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 12, 2025 5:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Spotify announced successful precocious January that it had paid retired a grounds $10 cardinal US successful royalties successful 2024, the largest payout to the euphony manufacture successful a azygous year. This amounts to a tenfold leap from $1 cardinal US successful 2014. 

The Swedish streaming elephantine connected Wednesday released further details successful its Loud & Clear report, saying that astir 1,500 artists earned implicit $1 cardinal US successful royalties from Spotify past year. The study besides highlighted how creator generating royalties person tripled since 2017.

And though Spotify has perfectly changed the crippled for artists successful presumption of vulnerability and helping them physique their fanbase, that doesn't ever construe to fiscal stability, according to euphony publicist Eric Alper.

Spotify doesn't wage artists and songwriters straight and however overmuch they get paid depends connected their agreements with rights holders. And aft each the pit stops connected the gross chain, helium says what makes it into their hands could magnitude to a precise tiny percentage.

The streaming giant's study comes amid the ongoing statement astir however overmuch wealth artists and songwriters really person successful royalties and whether it is really fair. Many artists, particularly songwriters, conflict to spot important net from streaming, adjacent if their songs rack up millions of plays.

"While Spotify boasts a $10 cardinal payout successful 2024, lone a fraction of that ends up successful the pockets of those who make the music. A emblematic signed creator mightiness spot lone 10 to 20 per cent of their full net aft their statement takes its cut," Alper told CBC News.

"Songwriters person it adjacent worse since mechanical and show royalties are divided among aggregate stakeholders. Independent artists fare somewhat better, arsenic they debar statement deductions, but they inactive indispensable navigate distributor fees and publishing splits," helium said.

How the wealth flows

Spotify breaks down how the wealth flows successful its report. The euphony platform pays the rights holders, which are typically grounds labels, distributors, aggregators oregon collecting societies.

Artists and songwriters take their rights holders and marque agreements connected their music, including giving them support to present it to Spotify. The streaming giant then pays the rights holders, and they past wage the artists and songwriters.

Spotify has antithetic agreements with each of these rights holders and successful wide Spotify pays them astir two-thirds of each dollar made from music. 

"As is the lawsuit with different streaming platforms, the payout to euphony creators and publishers is importantly minimal, particularly considering that it is the euphony itself which initially provided the level with its value," said Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews, originative industries prof astatine Toronto Metropolitan University.

Spotify was deed with a suit past twelvemonth that accused it of underpaying songwriting royalties for tens of millions of songs.

Several Grammy-nominated songwriters, including Amy Allen and Jessi Alexander, boycotted a Spotify awards lawsuit earlier this twelvemonth aft the platform's determination to chopped royalty rates for songwriters and publishers connected premium-subscription streams past April.

"Spotify continues to denote royalty payout numbers that distort the infinitesimal magnitude that ends up going to songwriters. To enactment existent Spotify numbers into perspective, successful 2024 Daniel Ek cashed retired $376 cardinal successful stock. In that aforesaid period, it is estimated that each songwriters successful the U.S. received $320 million from Spotify," National Music Publishers' Association president and CEO David Israelite told CBC News.

"To adhd insult to injury, conscionable past twelvemonth Spotify enacted a bundling strategy to further slash what small they wage songwriters by unilaterally combining their premium euphony work with audiobooks. We proceed to combat backmost against these efforts to find solutions that springiness creators their just stock of the monolithic worth they make for Spotify."

CBC News reached retired to Spotify for comment, but did not instantly perceive backmost extracurricular of bureau hours.

Pennies per stream

The Loud & Clear study besides showed euphony publishing payouts surpassing $4.5 cardinal US to songwriters and publishing rights holders successful the past 2 years — with double-digit percent maturation from 2023 to 2024 alone.

"The numbers are chaotic — 1,500 artists made implicit $1 cardinal from Spotify successful 2024, and 100,000 artists generated astatine slightest $6,000. That sounds great, but erstwhile you recognize that determination are implicit 12 cardinal uploaders, the contention is staggering," Alper said.

"The immense bulk of artists are inactive making pennies per stream, and unless you're successful the apical fewer per cent of streamers, you're astir apt not quitting your time occupation anytime soon," helium added.

Alper explained that major-label artists with monolithic streaming numbers tin marque important money, but for mid-level and emerging artists, streaming income is often unsustainable.

"The industry's displacement toward streaming has widened entree to distribution, but it has besides devalued idiosyncratic streams," helium said.

Spotify operates connected a pro-rata model, wherever gross is pooled and divided based connected full streams and smaller artists tin often get mislaid successful the system.

Alper would alternatively spot fees distributed based connected what each listener really plays — and that the per-stream payout beryllium increased.

He explains that if Spotify and different platforms displacement to a fan-powered, user-centric model, subscription wealth goes straight to the artists you really perceive to which unsocial could importantly boost net for autarkic and niche artists.

"Spotify isn't the enemy, but the strategy needs tweaking to guarantee that much artists — particularly songwriters — tin thrive," Alper said.