Spotify new numbers, my new single

Did you see what Spotify just released? It's a hopeful step in the direction of being a bit more transparent by the streaming behemoth. The new 'Loud and Clear' site outlines the (macro) economics around how streaming works on the platform. One of the biggest takeaways for me is the number of artists actually earning from streaming. And how much!

+If Spotify Won't Pay More, They Should Give Us More Data

In 2020:

- 184,500 artists made over $1,000
- 67,200 artists made over $5,000
- 42,100 artists made over $10,000
- 13,400 artists made over $50,000
- 7,800 artists made over $100,000
- 1,820 artists made over $500,000
- 870 artists made over $1,000,000

Let's put this in perspective. In Indonesia, the average annual salary is around $10,000. In India and Brazil it's $5,000. And in the US, the median annual salary is just under $50,000. So, depending on where you live, it seems a significant number of musicians are earning a living just from Spotify royalties (not to mention Apple Music, or any other avenue). 

Now, let's not forget that 100% of this money does not go direclty to the artists in many cases. Many of these artists are signed to labels or distributors who keep a percentage of these royalties.

+DistroKid vs. Tunecore vs. CD Baby vs. United Masters vs. Amuse vs. AWAL vs. Stem vs...

And if you don't have someone collecting your publishing royalties (performance AND mechanical) then you're missing out on about 1/5 of all of your money. Check out this article on how to get that money.

+Songtrust vs. Sentric vs. CD Baby Publishing vs. Tunecore Publishing

And, isn't it nuts that nearly 8,000 artists are making more than $100,000 just from Spotify? So next time someone says that Spotify doesn't pay, you can politely correct them. It's a weird and crazy time we're in right now. 

+Spotify Removed Your Music, Now What

Another big takeaway, is that over 550,000 tracks have surpassed 1 million streams (207,000 in just 2020). Now, I know this stat might make you feel quite shitty if you're not the artist behind one of these songs, but don't let this discourage you. Let it encourage you! Tens of thousands of artists are making a living just from Spotify revenue. Make it your goal this year to be one of them! 

At Ari's Take, we're working with some experts in the space to help you achieve streaming success and be one of these artists. We're about to reveal the goods. Stay tuned... 

And last, but (hopefully) not least. I released a new single today. "Birthday" is a piano ballad about reflecting but not dwelling. Being grateful without celebration. 

Take a listen here.

If you do the Spotify thing, please add it to your playlists and smash that heart button. It all helps. We're all in this crazy music community together. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the song (just hit reply). 

~Ari

PS - Have you checked out our report on how much each distributor pays per stream for Spotify and Apple (by country)? We're adding new reports/distros everyday. Check it out here. 

~Ari

Follow Ari's Take on Instagram @aristake_ and TikTok @aris.take for daily doses of inspiration.

Keep up on Twitter: @aristake

Subscribe to the New Music Business podcast

+Who is Ari? 

Visit: https://aristake.com 

My music:
ariherstand.com

Sign up for the email list: http://eepurl.com/c1hFEz

How much each distributor pays for Spotify and Apple Music

I'm holding a live training on The 3 Myths and 3 Truths of Livestreaming for Musicians on Friday, March 5th at 12pm (noon) PST. It's not over Zoom (whew!) - no need to dress up - and it will be LIVE. I'm going to be discussion how you can use Facebook, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube to build a dedicated following, how you don't need a large following to be successful in livestreaming; how you can make a living livestreaming from home, along with going through case studies of the musicians who've been killing it in the livestreaming space this past year. This is a free training, and as long as you register before the webinar begins you'll receive a link to watch the replay. Register here.

+Read this full report (and see the charts) on aristake.com

All streams are not treated equally.

How much Spotify and Apple Music pay for a stream varies on many factors.

There are around 800 different pay rates for each stream on Spotify. Some of the variables include:

• Country/Territory of the listener
• Subscription plan level (free, family, student, discount, premium)
• Promotional stream
• Distributor / label negotiated rate

We're focusing on the last point here. But I'll get to that in a minute. First let me break down the most obvious points:

Country/Territory of the Listener

Spotify and Apple Music pay more for a stream from a listener in the US than a stream from a listener in India. Why? Simply because the cost of a standard premium subscription in the US is about $10. In India it's under $2.00. Not to mention the free, family and discount plans.

For the ad-supported free plan on Spotify (Apple Music only has a 3-month trial - without ads) advertisers pay more for US Spotify placement than they do for India Spotify placement, so the pay split (which has never been revealed) for ad-supported streams will also be much less.

Subscription Plan Level

Spotify and Apple also pay differently based on the listener's plan. So Spotify (and Apple) will pay-out more for a stream from a listener on a $9.99/mo premium plan versus a listener on the free, ad-supported or family plans.

Worth noting that Apple Music pays a lot more than Spotify across the board because Apple Music does not offer a free, ad-supported streaming experience to users. Ad supported streams pay much less than subscription supported streams.

As of December 31st, 2020, of Spotify's 345 million monthly active users, only 155 million of them are subscribers.

Promotional Stream

This is a very new thing that Spotify is experimenting with. Spotify is offering labels and artists the ability to essentially advertise their songs on the platform as suggested songs to listeners (once they finish listening to their chosen song/album/playlist). Instead of paying a fee up front for advertising, you instead take a lower payout rate for the promoted streams. We don't have any data on how this is working yet.

Distributor / Label Negotiated Rate

This is what we're focusing on with this report. One of the biggest reasons that there isn't a "Spotify pay rate" or an "Apple Music pay rate" is because each distributor negotiates a different pay rate with each DSP (Digital Service Provider - catchall for streaming services). Some indie distributors are part of the Merlin network - which essentially collectively bargains for a rate which will then be utilized for all distributors in that network.

Merlin publicly lists on their Press page that they represent “15% of the global market share” and Merlin’s members include: Amuse, CD Baby, AWAL, DistroKid, Symphonic, Vydia, Sub Pop, Ultra Records, Mad Decent, Secretly, along with "hundreds more" indie labels and distributors.

Supposedly every Merlin deal will result in the same pay-rate for each label and distributor.

But just being part of the Merlin network does not mean that the distributor has to opt-in for every deal. Which is why some distributors have higher pay rates than others who are also part of Merlin.

Worth noting, no distributor paid out more than $.004/per stream for spotify us in 2020

Note that's Spotify US - not Spotify across the board.

We didn't calculate Spotify's average per-stream rate across all territories (as many other reports do) because it would be heavily weighted on the location of the artists' lister base. If an artist got included in a country-specific playlist, like "Top Brazil" and 90% of their streams came from Brazil, their numbers would look awfully different than someone whose streams come primarily from the US or India. Because streams are not evenly distributed amongst every territory, you have to split up calculations by country.

So, we did.

Read the full report (and see the charts) here.

~Ari

Follow Ari's Take on Instagram @aristake_ and TikTok @aris.take for daily doses of inspiration.

Keep up on Twitter: @aristake

Subscribe to the New Music Business podcast

+Who is Ari? 

Visit: https://aristake.com 

My music:
ariherstand.com

Sign up for the email list: http://eepurl.com/c1hFEz

Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

The world's biggest music publishing company is no longer called Sony/ATV. It's now Sony Music Publishing. The re-brand of the US-headquartered pubco sees the Sony Music Publishing name return for the first time in over two decades, complete with a new logo. The move marks 25 years since Sony/ATV was first established in 1995 through a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson. That merger brought together the original Sony Music Publishing with Jackson’s ATV Music, which the late artist acquired in an astonishingly smart buy for just $47.5m in 1985. A process of modern publishing unification at Sony began in 2016, when the company acquired the Michael Jackson estate’s 50% share of Sony/ATV for $750m, making it a wholly owned Sony company. In 2018, Sony further consolidated its position at the largest music publisher – and simplified its structure – via the purchase of full ownership of EMI Music Publishing via two deals jointly worth more than $2.5bn. This recent process of unification has been reflected in the new re-brand to Sony Music Publishing, a move driven by the publishing company's Chairman & CEO, Jon Platt... (MBW)