(CelebrityAccess) – Spotify has revealed its numbers, showing that it paid $7 billion to artists in 2021, more than any other streaming service. The figure includes recorded music and publishing.
The news was published on the company’s Loud and Clear website, which aims to show transparency for artists and industry professionals. Via Loud and Clear’s website: “Artists deserve clarity about the economics of music streaming. Last year, we launched this site to increase transparency by sharing new data on Spotify’s royalty payments and breaking down the global streaming economy, the players, and the process.”
Spotify also revealed streaming revenue alone exceeded total industry revenue for each year from 2009 to 2016. The IFPI recently issued its global music report that showed streaming driving all growth in revenues for 2021.
Spotify’s data update also shows that major record labels earned over $4 billion in profit in 2021, again driven by streaming. Spotify claims that at the height of the CD era, it favored superstars twice as much as the streaming era. For the second year running, the streaming goliath has paid out more than a billion dollars to publishing rights holders.
For the first time in its history, over 1,000 artists generated over $1 million on Spotify. Over 50,000 artists generated $10,000 from Spotify alone – and likely over $40,000 across all recorded revenue sources, according to the digital service provider (DSP).
More than 28% of artists who generated over $10,000 self-distribute to Spotify. And 34% of artists who generated more than $10,000 on Spotify live in countries outside the Top 10 music markets.
Self-releasing artists are growing at a faster rate than other areas of the market with partners such as Tunecore. TikTok has recently announced that it will help acts distribute to DSPs including Spotify. One of the key takeaways listed on the Loud and Clear website is that “Artists can go from ‘zero to career’ faster than ever, powered by streaming”.
