Global streaming service Spotify has paid nearly 1,500 artists more than $1 million in royalties for streams in 2024. Their total revenue from other sources likely exceeded $4 million. The company reported this in its annual Loud and Clear report.
- These are not just famous artists - more than 80% of them have never had a single track reach the Spotify Global Daily Top 50 chart.
- Nor are they just stars from decades past: most of them began their careers after 2010.
- More than 80% of these artists are actively touring and will have at least one concert in 2024.
- The streaming era shows that success in music no longer depends on chart-topping hits or a long discography, Spotify notes.
- The key factor is building a loyal audience that listens to an artist's music on a regular basis.
- Spotify estimates that artists begin to approach $1 million in annual revenue when they have 4-5 million monthly listeners or 20-25 million streams per month on Spotify.
In total, the company paid record $10 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2024. Spotify noted that this amount exceeds the payments made by any single retailer in a year, and is 10 times the contribution of the largest music store during the heyday of CD sales.
It is important to note that Spotify does not pay for every listen. Royalties are calculated based on an artist's share of listens in a given market.
Earlier, Spotify reported full-year profitability for the first time, with the music streaming giant's net income for 2024 coming in at €1.14 billion (about $1.18 billion), compared to a loss of €532 million in 2023.
