Only around 50,000 artists made over £7,500 on Spotify in 2021

Figures in Spotify’s annual transparency report ‘Loud and Clear’ show that only 52,600 artists generated more than $10,000 (£7,585.95) on the streaming platform in 2021.

Spotify have paid out more than $7 billion to rights holders including artists, labels, and distributors last year which is up from 2020’s $5 billion.

According to Spotify, this is the largest sum to be paid from one retailer to the music industry in one year including any single retailer at the height of the CD era.

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The report reveals that Spotify’s revenue in 2021 alone was higher than the industry’s total revenue for each year from 2009 through 2016.

In 2021 there were 8 million artists on the streaming platform. Over 1,000 artists generated around £750,000 from Spotify with 450 artists generating around £1.5 million and 130 artists generating around £3.7 million.

Spotify does not pay artists on their platform directly but to the rights holders instead, meaning that most the money made goes to labels and publishers.

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Read Spotify’s annual transparency report ‘Loud and Clear’ here.

[Via: MusicTech]

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter