Apple Music told artists it pays a penny for streaming in a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The disclosure, made in a letter to artists delivered Friday through the service’s artists ’board and sent to record labels and publishers, is part of a growing effort by music streaming services to prove they are artists. For Apple Inc., it can be seen as a response to Spotify Technology SA, which last month shared some details about how it pays the music industry for its broadcasts for its service.
Apple’s penny-per-play structure – which according to music industry experts may drop – is about double what Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming service, pays rights holders musicals by transmission. Spotify pays an average of about a third to half a cent per broadcast, though its larger user base generates many more streams. Apple’s payments come from users’ monthly subscription revenue.
Artists, managers and lawyers, who are still frustrated by the loss of tour revenue during the pandemic, have demanded a higher payment for music streaming, which has grown rapidly over the past year. Many fans have joined the push to increase artists ’compensation.
Apple last registered more than 60 million music subscribers in June 2019. Spotify leads the industry in subscriptions with 155 million, out of a total of 345 million active users, including those who listen to the level of advertising for free. Amazon said early last year that its music subscription offerings had 55 million subscribers.