First off, this article may be a little biased. I use Spotify every single day, no exceptions. Whether I’m at home or out and about, I am getting my money’s worth. I honestly love Spotify. After years of iTunes updates and shenanigans with transferring my music to a new device, I was pretty much fed up with Apple—how many times do I have to upload the new One Direction album to iCloud without it working before I want to rip my hair out?) Spotify is simpler in its' syncing processes, significantly more accurate about my music taste and fits my student budget. So what is all the talk about Spotify being the "last desperate fart of a dying corpse" (thank you for that visual, Thom York). What is really happening with artists’ money behind the scenes?
Spotify receives music by making a deal with the artist’s record label or manager. A specific album or single will be given to Spotify for an agreed-upon price. Spotify then pays for this album, and the artist makes money based on the amount of times their music was streamed during the month. If an artist counts for 0.5 percent of the total number of streams, the right holders get paid 0.5 percent in royalties. This is the case whether you are Beyoncé or some indie band no one has heard of. Where the money goes is based on royalties, and how much you are paid by Spotify to stream your music is up to whoever is settling the terms of the deals. Whether you believe artists don’t get paid enough is up to you, because there are more costs than just Spotify's profits.
Additionally, Spotify promotes artists in a way that the company won’t personally profit from. If I find a really great new artist, I usually sit and listen to their entire discography. My second reaction is to find out if they’re touring, which is information Spotify offers (but I always like to double check on the artist’s website because they might be performing at some low-key dive). That is already support from me that the streaming service has influenced. Because I am quite materialistic when it comes to music merchandise, I regularly buy a vinyl record of recently issued music, which obviously supports the artist as well, and I am presented with the artist’s merchandise when I am on their Spotify page.
In an age where almost everything is available for free through illegal downloads, at least we’re contributing something, right?
