The Great Spotify Swindle: Artists Fight Back

Many artists now find themselves in precarious financial situations despite millions of streams. The math simply doesn’t add up—thousands of plays translate to pennies, while platforms and shareholders collect billions.

The latest edition, “The Great Spotify Swindle,” takes aim at the streaming economy that has fundamentally altered how artists are valued and compensated. As a producer, DJ, and outspoken advocate for artists’ rights, this issue resonates deeply with Louisahhh. Here she talks us through a short guide to how Daniel Ek’s Spotify actually works.

The Great Spotify Swindle.

Written by the not for profit publication RA!SE and the musician and activist Louisahhh

Musicians have never had it so bad yet Spotify founder Daniel Ek is worth $6.9 billion, richer than any artist who has ever lived! With Spotify only paying a mere $0.003 per stream, only the top 2% of Spotify’s 8 Million artists make more than $1k per year. On average, artists need four thousand streams of a song to make at least $10!

And that is assuming they have 100% control over their intellectual property, which they probably won’t because third parties eg. publishing companies etc, will be taking their cut. To add to this Spotify does not pay for songs which receive fewer than 1000 streams, this has demonetized 80% of the songs on the platform.

These practices devalue music and decentralize artists from the creation process. This renders music labor invisible and makes more room for AI generated songs, via which Spotify puts money into its own pocket while data-mining the human-made music on the platform without compensating the artists who create it.

In a moment when techno-oligarchies are reshaping the world by shifting global power dynamics, challenging governance, democracy and equity, art is more important than ever as a form of resistance. With platforms like Spotify, Meta and Amazon flourishing in the ‘enshittification era’* while both creators and consumers suffer (while stockholders profit), choosing how we spend our time, money, energy and attention becomes critical in how culture evolves.

In vocally advocating against Spotify and offering exciting alternatives in the streaming space, I’ve had a lot of pushback on why artists don’t deserve to make a living, which seems like an absolutely insane stance to take (granted, as an artist, I am biased), and many comments saying ‘if you don’t like it, why don’t you take your music off of Spotify’?

While I would love to take my music off of Spotify, this is easier said than done in a touring economy which relies heavily on Spotify metrics for bookings, and in an industry where trying to get a label or publishing deal is nearly impossible without a strong presence on Spotify. I am not at the place in my career where that is a possibility, considering my goals as an artist. Similarly, while the world owes nobody a living (despite the wise words of Crass), by creating a financial barrier to entry in which only folks who have a trust fund or a strong secondary income can afford to make music full time, the diverse voices of marginalized people are minimized, which is a danger to ‘culture**’ as we know it.

As touring gets more and more expensive (check out this article on some major acts canceling tours due to prohibitive costs: it is important for sales – or streams – play a part in the financial ecosystem that allows artists, especially independent artists, to continue to work. At present, Spotify is a major enemy in the humble goal of a functional music economy.

*Enshittification is a term coined by author Cory Doctorow to describe the predictable lifecycle of digital platforms. It refers to the process where platforms initially offer excellent value to users to build market share, then gradually degrade user experience to extract more value for business customers, and finally exploit those business customers once both users and businesses are locked in. The platform prioritizes its own profit at the expense of user experience and third-party businesses, adding increasingly intrusive ads, paywalls, algorithmic manipulation, and data harvesting. This cycle ultimately leads to platform decline as users and businesses seek alternatives, though network effects and switching costs often create significant barriers to leaving.

**Culture is the dynamic, shared system of values, beliefs, practices, and expressions that forms a group’s identity, encompassing everything from art and traditions to social norms and collective knowledge. Marginalized voices are vital to cultural development because they contribute perspectives traditionally excluded from dominant narratives, revealing blind spots, challenging assumptions, and offering alternative frameworks that make culture more authentic and comprehensive. These voices bring unique insights developed through navigating systems not designed for them, thereby enriching cultural dialogue, fostering cross-cultural empathy, and creating more equitable cultural expressions that better reflect the full spectrum of human experience—without which culture risks stagnation and reinforcing existing power imbalances rather than evolving to embrace its inherent diversity.

Spotify in summary…

• Spotify has demonetized 80% of the songs on the platform by not paying for songs that receive less than 1000 streams.
• They pay .003 dollars per stream, the lowest of all DSPs
• They fired 51% of the curatorial team and now rely on AI
• CEO claims cost of music making is close to zero
• Meanwhile, CEO makes 2.5 BILLION times the average musician, and is richer than ANY MUSICIAN IN HISTORY
• Spotify is pioneering and pushing ‘perfect fit content’, i.e. creating and licensing tracks using AI and production companies and seeding editorial playlists with this music to avoid paying real artists
• Even creators of Perfect Fit Content must cede control of the royalties.
• Spotify has the least information on song credits of all streaming platforms, rendering music labour invisible

For further reading about the great Spotify swindle we recommend

Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine
Corey Doctorow’s Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
Following musician and activist Louisahhh
And following the recording artist and researcher Benn Jordan
RA!SE 8 ‘The Great Spotify Swindle’ is available to buy here with all profits being donated to the PRS Hardship fund.

RA!SE was set up by Passarella Death Squad as a way of raising awareness on human rights issues around the world with 100% of all profits from sales are donated to a charity supporting the cause detailed in the publication.

passarella.co.uk/raise

Louisahhh – Louisahhh is an accomplished artist, performer, and co-founder of RAAR label, known for its distinctive “techno for punks” sound. With over two decades of experience touring and creating music, she extends her influence beyond performance as an advocate for intersectional feminism, mental health awareness, and financial equity within the music industry. Louisahhh also serves as a consent educator and hosts the “Sober Sex” podcast. For more information about her advocacy work, visit fyeahconsent.com.