Spotify has launched Loud & Clear, a new web portal that presents data on how Spotify streams are determined and paid for. A few months ago, the website was launched today after a series of protests at Spotify offices by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers. Announcing the initiative, Spotify founder / CEO Daniel Ek said: “57,000 artists now account for 90% of monthly broadcasts on Spotify, a number that has quadrupled in just six years. Our goal is to help musicians who aspire to be or are professionals make a living. “
Charlie Hellman, vice president and head of marketing at Spotify, who has been with the company for a decade, tells Pitchfork that the initiative aims to give artists and songwriters more transparency about the streaming economy. “Throughout the time I’ve been on Spotify, payments and copyright from artists have been an everyday issue, but I think externally we haven’t said everything we should contribute more to the conversation,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here: share a little more and recognize that artists deserve more clarity about how this music streaming economy works.”
Loud & Clear offers several resources for this purpose, including a video called “Loud & Clear: How the Money Flows” and a section with various graphics detailing how many artists are reaching different revenue thresholds on Spotify. According to the data, 870 artists each generated more than $ 1 million by recording and publishing copyright in 2020; 1,820 generated more than $ 500,000; 7,800 generated more than $ 100,000; and 13,400 generated more than $ 50,000.
Hellman claims that Spotify’s incentives are aligned with those of the artists. He cites the data and the great year-on-year growth of artists reaching these royalty figures. For example, the number of artists who can generate royalties of $ 50,000 or more a year on Spotify has increased by 80% in a span of four years, from 7,300 in 2017 to 13,400 in 2020.
“If you look at these graphs of how artists from different income thresholds have grown over the last four years, what you see clearly is that Spotify has invested in a more attractive consumer experience: having better programming, launching new ones. countries, we do everything to invest in our business: they make the cake grow for everyone, “Hellman said.” We’re constantly trying to see what the price is that maximizes revenue. [any given] market, because if we can find the price that maximizes revenue, it’s better for Spotify and it’s better for all artists. When we grow our income, the income of artists grows. When we improve our programming, more artists can come in and have the opportunity to grow the audience. “