How Spotify Calculates Royalties in 2024.
All you need to know about streaming regulations.
Initiated by Universal and Deezer, Spotify follows up on the ‘artist-centric’ streaming regulations.
The changes implemented this quarter aim to combat streaming fraud and AI-generated songs and ensure better allocation of streaming royalties.
What’s new (February 2024)
- Tracks must now reach at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months to generate royalties;
- A minimum number of unique listeners is required for a track to be eligible for royalties (number not disclosed publicly yet).
This measure impacts a significant number of tracks, especially for beginners. Indeed, 81% of Spotify artists had less than 1,000 monthly listeners in 2023.
Comparatively, Deezer’s artist-centric payout model is more encouraging: an artist gets a ‘double boost’ in royalties when exceeding 500 unique listeners per month.
From Undiscovered to Legendary
In today’s multi-channeled and competitive industry, it’s increasingly challenging for music artists to “break” through.
Chartmetric’s Year in Music report for 2023 presents the 7 stages of an artist’s career.
The harsh reality: 99% of artists advanced from ‘Undiscovered’ to ‘Developing,’ but only 0.05% reached Mid-Level, Mainstream, and Superstar status in 2023.
Lack of diversity
In a global economy, Western culture maintains its dominance in the charts and its influence on the world, as per the Top 10 Artists.
Chartmetric reports indicate that 68% of artists are from the Anglosphere (U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia), highlighting a significant underrepresentation of cultures and genres in the music streaming industry.
Despite strong US influences, Latin music is rising, playing a significant role in the expansion of Latin repertoire.
Streaming’s growth in India has diminished Bollywood’s dominance, offering more opportunities for local artists.
As K-pop continues to gain global traction fueled by the industry’s marketing prowess, it influences other parts of the world, including Japan, reviving the J-pop ‘60'’s genre.
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