Spotify Says It “Got the World to Value Music” After Accusations of Low Payouts

Music streaming services get a lot of criticism for the amount of money they pay out to musicians. And Spotify is usually condemned more than any other due to reports that it pays less per-stream than its competitors. However, Spotify has come out fighting, and defended its record over the past 10 years.

Spotify Defends Its Record of Paying Musicians

A recent report by Duetti claimed that, out of all the big music streaming platforms, Spotify paid musicians the least amount of money. Slide 6 of the report claimed that on average in 2024, Spotify paid out $3.00 per 1,000 streams. This compares unfavorably to Amazon Music ($8.80), Apple Music ($6.20), and YouTube Music ($4.80).

Spotify has since come out swinging, sending a statement to Music Ally and others calling the claims “ridiculous and unfounded,” and claiming to be “the leader in total payouts.” And now, David Kaefer, the VP of Spotify’s Music Business, has written an official defense posted on For the Record.

In his defense of Spotify, Kaefer states that the company has paid out $60 billion over the past 10 years, including $10 billion in 2024 alone. He also states that in 2014, around 10,000 artists were generating at least $10,000/year on Spotify, but in 2024, “well over” 10,000 artists generated over $100,000/year. A tenfold increase.

Looking to the future, Kaefer then calls for the streaming industry as a whole to push for 1 billion people to pay for the privilege of streaming. Right now, the figure stands at 500 million across all music streaming services, so that would represent a 100 percent increase in the total number of paying subscribers.

More People Need to Start Paying to Stream Music

We cannot say for sure whether Duetti’s numbers regarding payout rates are correct or not. However, ultimately, Spotify is correct in two of its assertions: 1. That Spotify led the way in getting people to value music once more, and 2. That the best way to ensure musicians are making money from streaming is by persuading more people to pay for the privilege.

Anyone looking at the music industry now, but forgetting the past, would indeed see some serious issues with it. But that ignores the fact that streaming emerged from the mess of music piracy, when everyone was essentially stealing music. Which is why we have the streaming model (plus high prices for tours) we have now.

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