"Their payout is HORRIBLE bruh": Internet reacts to Spotify's $10 billion royalty payout

Spotify's latest Loud & Clear report has sparked a debate over artist payouts in the audio streaming industry. The Swedish music company announced that it paid out $10 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2024. It is a tenfold increase from the $1 billion it paid in 2014, the platform claims.

In an official press release, Spotify declared:

"Music streaming services now boast more than 500 million paying subscribers worldwide (IFPI), and a future with one billion paying listeners is within reach. In 2024, Spotify alone paid out $10 billion to the music industry—more than any single company has ever contributed in one year. The best news? This surge in payouts is increasing payouts for artists at all levels."

It also added:

"Over 50% of the artists who generated at least $1K in royalties on Spotify in 2024 made the majority of their earnings from listeners outside their home country. This demonstrates the pivotal role that export plays in the success and sustainability of an artist’s career. Around one-third of them saw more than 75% of their royalties come from outside their home countries, showing the power of global streaming in driving artist income."

Multiple musicians and songwriters argue that Spotify's payout structure favors a small fraction of artists while the majority struggle to earn a sustainable income, reports suggest. Some enthusiasts are praising the payout amount, and others are criticizing how the money is distributed.

Pop Crave took to its official X (formerly Twitter) handle to share:

"Spotify payouts to the music industry have increased 10x in the past decade. The payouts went from $1 billion in 2014 to over $10 billion in 2024."

Netizens chimed in the comments to share their thoughts regarding the matter. Below are what some of them had to remark:

"Their payout is HORRIBLE bruh dpmo", declared an X user.

"The artists were complaining they had to increase pay", stated another.

"Hope the artists are getting their share! Didn’t really think Spotify was gonna make it, but I guess they’re still at it.", opined a third.

"Crazy growth, but the real question is, are the artists actually seeing a fair cut of that?", questioned a fourth.

Others also chimed in:

"Well there’s a lot more musicians now. They need to keep up or no one will use it.", stated a netizen.

"Off-course if musicians increase, payout will increase. But the real question is, how much payout is increasing per musician.", pointed another.

""Spotify's payouts hit a high note—10x boom since 2014! Artists, keep streaming those royalty waves!", noted a third.

Spotify does not pay per stream

The company uses a pro-rata model, where revenue from subscriptions and ads is pooled together. After taking its 30% cut, Spotify distributes the remaining money to rights holders—record labels, distributors, and publishers—based on an artist’s streamshare, which is the percentage of total streams they account for.

This means artists are not directly paid a fixed amount per play. Instead, their earnings depend on multiple factors, including their total number of streams, their label’s deal with Spotify, and the artist’s share of that label’s revenue.

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