Independent artists and labels account for half of Spotify’s $9 billion payout to music industry | Digital

Spotify has revealed that it made a record payout of $4.5 billion to independent artists and labels in 2023.

Significantly, it marks the first year ever that indies (including DIY artists) accounted for about half of what the entire industry generated on Spotify, which totalled $9 billion.

“Streaming is levelling the playing field for independent artists to access the same global audience and tools as the superstars,” said Spotify in the update to its Loud & Clear portal.

2023 was the highest amount indies have ever generated from a single retailer in one year, according to Spotify. The streaming giant noted that $4.5 billion is more than the entire recorded music industry in every country around the world, outside of the US (based on IFPI’s Global Music Report 2023).

Spotify has paid the music industry more than $48 billion since its founding.

“Every year, Spotify has paid out more and more money in streaming royalties, resulting in record revenues and growth for rights-holders on behalf of artists and songwriters,” said a statement. “These rights-holders include record labels, publishers, independent distributors, performance rights organisations, and collecting societies.”

Spotify now accounts for more than 20% of global recorded music revenue (up from less than 15% in 2017). 

The $4.5 billion total for the independent sector represents a four-fold increase on what indies generated on Spotify in 2017.

“Spotify offers many playlists and marketing programs dedicated to helping independent artists build their audiences,” said a statement. “For example, since its debut in 2016, Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist series has served as a launchpad for developing artists, with tens of thousands of independent artists featured across 30 different playlists, resulting in hundreds of millions of user-track discoveries.”

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