EDM Identity
  • News
  • Music
    • Exclusive Mixes
    • Playlists
  • Events
  • Culture
  • Interviews
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
EDM Identity
  • News
  • Music
    • Exclusive Mixes
    • Playlists
  • Events
  • Culture
  • Interviews
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
EDM Identity
No Result
View All Result

Spotify Says it Paid Out $9 Billion, or 63% of its Revenue, to Rightsholders in 2023

John Cameron by John Cameron
February 8, 2024
in News
Photo credit: Haithem Ferdi

Spotify is working to dispel the notion that it takes advantage of the artists and labels who use it.


Spotify has a complicated relationship with musicians. They can scarcely survive without using it in the industry of today, but it has come under fire for how its low royalty payouts have come to devalue recorded music. Not so, says Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. In a statement, he claimed that the streaming platform paid out $9 billion to music rightsholders over the course of 2023.

This figure is 63% of Spotify’s total 2023 revenue of $14.336 billion, which it shared in its Q4 financials report earlier in the week. The statement also boasted that this amount has tripled over the past six years — although, to be fair, Spotify’s revenue itself has tripled in only five. All told, it puts the company’s lifetime rightsholder payouts at $48 billion since it launched in 2008.

In March 2022, Spotify had said that it paid out almost 70% of each dollar generated on its platform to rightsholders. In the same announcement, it said that the number of artists earning more than $1 million annually and the number earning more than $10,000 had both doubled in five years.

It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for Spotify. In December, the company announced that it would be forced to lay off 17% of its staff, or roughly 1,570 individuals. That followed rounds of layoffs in which the company terminated 500 employees in January 2023 and 200 more the following June.

Spotify kicked off 2024 with new measures put in place to increase payouts to working artists. Among them are new fines imposed upon fraudulent uploaders and a 1,000 stream threshold that each track must meet in order to be monetized. Tracks belonging to “functional genres” like white noise must also be longer than 30 seconds in order to be eligible.

Spotify plans to share additional details in its annual Loud & Clear report.

ShareTweetShareShare
John Cameron

John Cameron

I'm a recovering techno elitist and the managing editor of EDM Identity. I try to write articles that give the context I wished I had when I started getting more into dance music two decades ago.

MORE ON EDMIDENTITY

John Summit at Tomorrowland 2025
News

Tomorrowland and Amazon Music Release 2025 ‘We Are Tomorrow’ Documentary

by Grant Gilmore
October 5, 2025
Avalon Hollywood 2025
News

Insomniac Acquires Historic AVALON Hollywood Nightclub

by Grant Gilmore
October 3, 2025
S2O Festival
Festival News

S2O Festival’s Australia Debut: See the Full Lineup Now

by Sheila Lim
October 3, 2025
Tomorrowland The Book of Wisdom
News

Tomorrowland Unveils Second Book in ‘The Book of Wisdom’ Trilogy

by Grant Gilmore
October 2, 2025
Ibiza Flood
News

Ibiza Flood Sidelines Island Staples DC10, Pacha Hotel

by John Cameron
October 2, 2025
Next Post
AREA15 Massives 2024

AREA15 is Electrifying Las Vegas with Four Massives in 2024

FOLLOW US

Facebook Instagram TikTok Twitter Soundcloud Youtube
EDM Identity

© 2025 All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Team
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility

Cleantalk Pixel
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Music
  • Events
  • Culture
  • Festival Tips
  • Interviews
  • Shop

© 2025 All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.