In January 2024, Spotify announced it paid $10 billion in royalties to artists, marking a tenfold increase since 2014. Global recorded music revenues from streaming have surged from $13 billion in 2014 to $28 billion in 2023, with over 12,500 artists earning over $100,000 last year. Notably, 1,500 artists surpassed $1 million in royalties, with 80% not appearing on the Global Daily Top 50. Multilingual music is gaining traction, with artists in 17 languages crossing the $1 million threshold. Spotify now accounts for nearly a quarter of global recorded music revenue, emphasizing its significance in the industry.
In January, Spotify disclosed that it disbursed $10 billion in royalties to artists in 2024 alone, and today the company provided more insights into these figures.
Since 2014, annual payouts to the music industry have surged tenfold, with over 12,500 artists earning over $100,000 in royalties last year.
Spotify emphasized that significant transformations have occurred over the past decade. In 2014, global recorded music revenue from streaming was $13 billion, of which the Swedish company contributed $1 billion. This revenue has more than doubled, reaching $28 billion in 2023, fueled by over 500 million paying subscribers across all music platforms.
Currently, more than 200 artists have exceeded the $5 million earnings threshold, compared to just one in 2017. Additionally, 1,500 artists have surpassed the $1 million mark.
In the last two years, Spotify has allocated $4.5 billion to publishing rights holders, which includes songwriters, publishers, performing rights organizations (PROs), and other collecting entities.
Among the 1,500 artists who received seven-digit earnings in USD, 80% did not achieve a spot on the Spotify Global Daily Top 50 chart – one of the platform’s most popular playlists. Notably, these artists are not limited to legacy figures; they also include actively touring musicians with ticketed shows in 2024.
Spotify highlighted an intriguing trend regarding the growing interest in multilingual music. In 2017, only songs in English and Spanish earned over $100 million in royalties. Fast forward to 2024, and eight languages – English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, French, Portuguese, and German – have surpassed this threshold.
Music in 17 languages has exceeded the $1 million royalty mark, while artists in 50 languages have reached the $100,000 milestone.
Spotify clarified the earnings from streaming. For 1 million streams, an artist receives $10,000, which equates to USD 0.01, or one cent. However, this isn’t a constant amount; payouts vary based on streamshare. The company states that a fixed per-stream rate is not feasible since listeners do not pay per song streamed.
Today, nearly a quarter of global recorded music revenue comes from Spotify, an increase from 15% in 2017. This total includes physical sales, touring, merchandise, sync deals, and other revenue streams, underscoring Spotify’s pivotal role in the music industry.
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