Last year, Spotify contributed £750 million to the UK music industry.
Spotify reports that music by UK recording artists generated £750 million in royalties on its platform last year. Nearly 1,000 artists saw their music played frequently enough to earn at least £100,000 in royalties each, according to the company. These figures were disclosed as part of Spotify’s “Loud and Clear” campaign, which aims to provide transparency on its payment practices to the music industry.
However, Spotify cannot specify the exact amount of royalty payments that artists receive, as this varies based on individual contracts with record labels and publishers. Typically, artists receive around 16% of the royalties generated. For instance, an artist whose music earns £100,000 on Spotify might only receive £16,000 in royalty payments before taxes.
Despite this, Spotify is not the sole source of revenue for artists. With approximately a 50% share of the UK music streaming market, artists can potentially earn a similar amount from other platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal.
English-language songs are witnessing a decline in popularity globally, with Ed Sheeran emerging as the top British artist on Spotify last year. However, British artists did not feature in Spotify’s Top 10 most-played chart, which was dominated by non-English speaking artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, and Karol G.
Spotify highlights the growing influence of genres like K-pop, Amapiano, and Music Mexicana, and notes that over 75% of royalties paid to UK artists come from international listeners. This underscores the significant export potential for UK artists in the streaming market.
Independent artists and labels received 40% of the UK’s royalty payments, amounting to £300 million. These entities typically receive a higher share of proceeds, with some self-released artists retaining 100% of their earnings.
Spotify has faced criticism for its policy of demonetizing songs with fewer than 1,000 streams, but defends it as a measure to combat fraudulent activity and spam. The company expects this policy to redirect $40 million to more popular songs in 2024.
This disclosure marks the first time Spotify has revealed its UK payout figures. The total of £750 million represents a doubling since 2017 and underscores Spotify’s significant contribution to the music industry’s revenues, making it the largest single contributor worldwide.
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