Tuesday, November 7th, 2023.
Hey, it’s TJ Miller, “You want some game?” Let's #tipundathehat!
For the best indie music from indie artists, click, and follow Indie Artist Of The Week Unda The Hat on Spotify, and check out the latest YouTube from MrTJ Miller and the book Murder By The Collar.
The new doo review - Let’s Geaux -
Okay, so let’s just get to it, Spotify, the Swedish audio streaming and media services provider is changing things up a bit. In case you didn’t know, Spotify has more than 574 million users, including 226 million subscribers in more than 180 markets. They don’t just do music either, they offer content such as Podcasts, Videos, Music, etc., but you know all that. Currently, Spotify pays artists between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream on average. This works out to a revenue split of approximately 70/30, with 70% going to the artist/rights holders and 30% to Spotify. The amount you can expect to receive from Spotify depends on a few factors, including: Where your audience comes from, whether they are free or premium users, and even your distribution deal. Here’s an example for you. If 100 people stream one of your songs on Spotify, you’ve just made between six and eighty cents. Here’s what you need to know, Spotify pays out monthly, as long as your balance amounts to $10 or more. If your balance is less than $10, Spotify will continue to accumulate your revenue until it reaches $10 or more.
Spotify will change its royalty payout model by early next year to include a minimum threshold of streams for a song to qualify for royalty payments, penalties for streaming fraud, and restrictions on royalty payments for short “noise” tracks, as first reported by Music Business Worldwide. These changes are indicative of tectonic shifts (meaning how the music industry works, like how AI is changing the landscape) in the music industry today and point the way to the future of streaming music services. The good part is that it is easier than ever for you to record a quality-sounding project that will sit right alongside Drake, Kirk Franklin, or Bony James.
So let’s go back, remember I said Spotify pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream on average? Well, things are about to change. Spotify is planning changes to its royalty model for 2024 that will disqualify some tracks from payments and increase penalties for so they say things like “fraud.” On average, you'll have to earn 300,000 to 350,000 streams to generate roughly $1000. Other reasons include Introducing a minimum payment threshold, lowering or eliminating royalties for fraudulent streams, and restricting royalty payments for short “noise” tracks like white noise and environmental sounds. The changes are planned for early 2024. According to Spotify, the above are all drains on the royalty pool and stop money from getting to working artists.
The ultimate plan for Spotify is to shift $1 billion in payouts towards "working artists" over the next 5 years. So stay woke out there folks, and remember this, yes, you want to be on Spotify, you have to be if you are looking to be competitive in the market. But guess what, you don’t have to worry about all this if you are selling music on your own website. Think about it.🤔
This week's #IAOTW - Independent Artists Of The Week is - Mr. TJ Miller, (yep me again). 
Originally from Monroe Louisiana, the Grambling Grad also attended Tennessee State and Full Sail Universities. He has worked for major labels and major music distribution companies for 20+ years and started Unda The Hat Media, a marketing and ad agency, to help independent musicians thrive and be successful.