Another kick in the nuts from Spotify is that they will require a minimum number of unique listeners to even count to that 1,000 minimum play number. They won’t publish what that number is but I’d assume it’s 500+ based on the info that has been shared so far. It’s even bleaker for small artists. Check out this math…
You have 400 super fans who listen to your 10 song album at least once a month. That’s 48,000 plays per year. And let’s assume those super fans all pay for Premium which pays out at the highest royalty rate. That’s $240 in royalties you would have been paid in 2023 and previous but now you’ll get nothing. Now let’s say you have 4 albums and you get the same kind of streaming activity. Now that’s close to $1,000 you’ll never see.
They are setting the bar higher than 1,000 streams per track. Hell, it could be 1,000 unique listeners before they pay out for all we know. It’s just shitty and is going to have a much larger impact than the $40m they initially claimed. Just wait, you will see all the news stories about artists making more in royalties in 2024 than ever before.