Artists can now pay to feature on Spotify’s homescreen with new “Showcase” tool

Spotify has launched a new tool called Showcase, with which artists will be able to pay to feature on the app's homescreen.

The popular streaming platform describes it as a "campaign tool to give your music its moment", however artists bemoan as it as step further away from what they want: getting paid properly.

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Showcase is available to any artist with at least 1,000 monthly streams, with budgets starting at $100 and campaigns ending either when the budget runs out or two weeks after the Showcase begun. The budget is spent on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, starting at $0.40 CPC.

According to Label Grid, even the lowest CPC rate is at least 80 times what an artist can receive in royalties per stream. This leaves creatives questioning the point of the tool, with twitter user DNSCEO questioning its ability to generate income for artists:

Other users have bemoaned it as a further indication that Spotify are moving away from its personalisation model, with functions such as Discover Weekly and DJ designed to provide users with unique experiences.

This is not the first time Spotify has made artists pay for marketability on their platform. In March 2023, Spotify announced that artists can opt-in to feature on Discovery Mode. The catch? Artists give up 30% of their royalty rate.

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Following Spotify's decision to increase subscription fees earlier this year, the company had issued a statement promising the rise was part of its commitment to "deliver value for artists".

Read more about Spotify's new feature on their official website here.

Tibor Heskett is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter.