America-based music industry trade union United Musicians & Allied Workers has responded to the elaborate marketing campaign that is Spotify Wrapped with a reminder of Spotify’s payment inequity. “One stat you won’t find in your Spotify Wrapped is how much artists are paid for all that listening on the platform,” UMAW said in a post on social media.
The union revealed that, due to a lack of regulation on streaming, the maximum amount artists can hope to earn from Spotify is $US0.003 per stream. This figure is set to drop even further in 2024. “In 2024, Spotify will stop paying anything AT ALL for 2/3 of the tracks on the platform,” wrote UMAW.
UMAW: “There is no regulation over streaming”
Spotify recently announced that a track would need to hit a minimum threshold of 1000 plays a year before any money would be paid out. Spotify spun this change as a way to prevent payments from getting lost in the system. “Spotify hosts well over 100 million tracks,” they said. “Tens of millions of them have been streamed between 1 and 1,000 times over the past year and, on average, those tracks generated $0.03 per month.”
Spotify continued, “Because labels and distributors require a minimum amount to withdraw (usually $2-$50 per withdrawal), and banks charge a fee for the transaction (usually $1-$20 per withdrawal), this money often doesn’t reach the uploaders. And these small payments are often forgotten about.”
However, in a post titled “Spotify Kinda Sucks”, independent media outlet More Perfect Union criticised the change for effectively “demonitiz[ing] smaller artists.” UMAW said they’re working to fix the lack of regulation that allows Spotify to compensate artists so poorly. “We have big plans for 2024,” they said. “Join us!”
Further Reading
Spotify Wrapped 2023: Australia’s Most Streamed Artists, Songs, Albums & Podcasts of the Year
Following Neil Young Protest, Spotify Says It Will Take Steps To Combat Vaccine Misinformation
