Spotify will pay nearly $4.5 billion to independent rights holders in 2023, or about half of the more than $9 billion the streaming service paid out to all labels and publishers last year, the company announced on Tuesday (Feb 27). .
The $4.5 billion total marks a new record for the indie sector (which includes DIY artists) and a fourfold increase in the amount independents generated on Spotify in 2017, according to the company. Spotify notes that $4.5 billion is larger than the entire recorded music industry in every country in the world except the United States, citing IFPI's 2023 World Music Report (based on 2022 data).
“In 2023, independent music's historic achievement of generating nearly $4.5 billion on Spotify highlights the transformative and democratizing impact of streaming, marking a milestone in the global accessibility and success of independent artists,” he said. Dr. Richard James BurgessCEO of A2IM, in a statement.
As Advertising sign previously estimated, Spotify is probably the largest source of music revenue worldwide, accounting for approximately 20% of record and publishing revenue worldwide based on the global value of music copyrights estimated at more than $45 billion in 2023 (from the total $41.5 billion estimated by a music economist Will Page for 2022). That would mean that Spotify's payouts in India alone made up about 10% of the total value of music copyrights worldwide last year.
The figures released by Spotify are not surprising when you consider that independents' market share is growing every year. According to data released by Luminate, the indie sector made up more than a third of all music activity in 2023, with a 35.74% market share, easily surpassing Universal Music Group's 29.35%.
Despite competition from rivals like Apple Music and Amazon Music, Spotify remains the largest music subscription platform worldwide. MIDiA Research's Q3 2023 Global Music Subscription Market report, published earlier this month, put Spotify at a 31.7% share of the total global streaming market with 226 million subscribers worldwide. This puts it well ahead of competitors such as Tencent Music Entertainment (102.7 million), Apple Music (89.8 million), Amazon Music (78.9 million) and YouTube Music (69.1 million). For its part, Spotify reported 236 million subscribers in its fourth-quarter earnings report on Feb. 6.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/streaming/spotify-paid-indie-music-labels-publishers-2023-1235615863/