Spotify executives have reportedly cashed in more than $1.1 billion in company stock in 2024, a figure that would require artists an astronomical 314 billion streams to match through royalties.
That is according to Music business around the world founder Tim Ingham, who lamented the disparity in a LinkedIn post today.
TO report published by the outlet on Wednesday says that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sold 875,000 Spotify shares for a total of $283 million this year. That figure pales in comparison to the cash amassed by Ek's co-founder, former Spotify CEO Martin Lorentzon, who sold 1,488,364 shares for a staggering $556.77 million.
This striking disparity underscores the current tension between streaming platforms and musicians, who have long argued that the current compensation structure is fundamentally broken. Streaming has transformed music consumption, but most artists (particularly independent ones) struggle to make a living from the royalties their songs generate.
A recent study suggested that independent artists currently need to rack up five million streams to earn the equivalent of the US minimum wage. That was before Spotify's controversial announcement that musicians and songwriters would have to meet a minimum streaming threshold before being eligible to accrue royalties.
The backlash recently came to a head after Ek short-sightedly claimed that the cost of creating content is “close to zero” before attempting to retract his comments, which he characterized as “clumsy.” Electronic music icon deadmau5 lashed out at him at the time and threatened to remove his music catalog from Spotify.
Spotify shares are up 141% since the start of 2024, more than doubling their value, per Barron.
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