Tags: Lady GaGa, Spotify
…. a measly $167 in royalties!
Spotfy, the new force to be reckoned with within the music industry has not been without it’s critics, most notably people have complained about the massive record companies holding stock in the young start up. Most music fans agree that the record labels take far too much revenue away from the artists which has seen groups like Radiohead go for a ‘pay what you feel’ deal. It might surprise you how much of an influence the record industries have over Spotify, and how cheap it was for them to get it.
According to TorrentFreak…
Sony BMG bought 5.8% of Spotify for 2,935 Euros, Universal Music got 4.8% for 2,446 euros, Warner Music paid 1,957 Euros for 3.8% and EMI pocketed 1.9% for an investment of 980 Euros
That’s nearly a 16% steak of Spotify that is owned by these major record labels. So what about the artists?
In August, Swedish artist and composer Magnus Uggla launched a scathing attack on the owners of Spotify. After discovering that Sony BMG is a shareholder and receiving virtually no cash from his music being played there, he withdrew his tracks from the service and stormed away, declaring controversially: “I’d rather be raped by The Pirate Bay.”
So this brings us nicely back to the title of this news item, how much does the Spotify generate for our beloved artists?
What about really, really big artists with huge international appeal. Say, an artist like Lady Gaga, who has sold more than 4 million albums and shifted in excess of 20 million paid digital downloads?According to a report today, Lady Gaga’s track “Poker Face” was one of the most popular tracks during a five month period on Spotify and was played more than a million times. So how much money does she get paid by STIM (the Swedish Performing Rights Society) for this massive achievement?
SEK 1150 – that’s around $167 or roughly 113 Euros.
Commenting on the story, Douglas Léon, better known as Swedish rapper Dogge Doggelito, said he was dismayed.
“It is totally sick. We musicians have no rights, you may not charge [for music] anymore,” adding that Lady Gaga could’ve earned more driving an illegal taxi-cab.
I am sure that Lady Gaga isn’t too bothered about not earning from Spotify when she rakes in millions from live concerts and merchandise, however some of the smaller bands which we review on this site don’t have that luxury. There is no doubt that Spotify has been a major turning point in our industry and many people now overlook the fantastic Last.fm, but next time you fire up Spotify just remember that it is (as per usual) the big labels who are making the money from their artists.
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About the Author:
DeanChew is the co-founder of Shout4Music and is from a mysterious part of the United Kingdom called Up Norf. He has been working in web development and SEO for over ten years. As well as SEO & Music he likes football, beer, girls and gravy - often at the same time.
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