It has been confirmed by Spotify that in order for a song to be eligible for royalties, it needs to receive at least 1,000 plays.
60% of tracks do not meet the threshold.
According to Spotify data, there are around 100 million songs on the service, yet only around 37.5 million meet the new requirements to generate revenue.
This means that around 60% of tracks will not qualify for the new threshold, although Spotify did recall that these songs make up less than 1% of the total number of streams on the service.
Most importantly, Spotify announced early in 2019 that it will be implementing a payment threshold, meaning that songs will not be able to earn royalties until they have received at least 1,000 plays. Based on data from Spotify, out of 100 million songs available on the site, only approximately 37.5 million have had 1,000 or more plays. This indicates that over 60% of all tracks on Spotify do not meet this criterion. However, those songs only account for 1% of total Spotify streaming, which highlights the significant amount of music that isn't receiving many plays.
The new rules are the result of weeks of conjecture over the new guidelines the streaming service will implement, including allegations that it would make it more difficult for musicians to receive royalties from their work.
Finally, Spotify revealed these new changes in a blog post published yesterday, November 21. The post listed various new guidelines that are being put in place with the intention of controlling the amount of content on the site and lowering the likelihood of fraud.
It was confirmed in these new regulations that Spotify would be implementing a payout threshold for 2024, which would need songs to reach 1,000 plays.
According to Spotify data, there are around 100million songs on the service, yet only around 37.5million meet the new requirements to generate revenue.
“As Spotify payouts to the music industry continue to grow — over $40 billion and counting — we want to make sure that money is going to the people our platform is designed to enable: emerging and professional artists. However, as the royalty pool and catalog on Spotify have surged, three particular drains on the royalty pool have now reached a tipping point. So, we’re working in close collaboration with industry partners — artist distributors, independent labels, major labels, label distributors, and artists and their teams — to introduce new policies to (1) further deter artificial streaming, (2) better distribute small payments that aren’t reaching artists, and (3) rein in those attempting to game the system with noise.”
How Can I Expand My Spotify Audience?
Pre-saves
Take full advantage of Spotify's pre-save function to promote your upcoming release and entice listeners to add it to their collection. You'll increase engagement and produce those crucial initial streams by doing this. This improves your songs' visibility and increases the likelihood that they will appear on editorial and algorithmic playlists.
Spotify for Artists
It's crucial to submit your song to Spotify editors through Spotify for Artists after it's been added to the platform. By doing this, you'll go one step closer to being featured on a highly sought-after Spotify editorial playlist.
Furthermore, Spotify offers pitched songs a boost in algorithmic playlists, and they appear on your fans' Release Radar as well. Additionally, submitting your music to independent Spotify playlist curators is a smart method to gain exposure from independent tastemakers who can lead to true fan base growth in addition to increased streams.
Collaborations
Work together with other artists and engage people in new ways!
We live in a creator's era where audience cross-pollination is critical. You may reach an artist's audience and vice versa by collaborating with them on a remix or social media post. Since no artist is an island, utilizing your network to its fullest is a reliable strategy to boost Spotify streams.
Indiefferential Magazine
Tell your friends about us! We have affordable tiers where we feature your music for the price of a coffee per month!
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We showcase as many projects as you'd like on a full page of our magazine (the monthly "What's New?").
We add your music to our Spotify playlists
We add the bio of the artist and their music under the "Artists" & "Spotlight" section on our site and their photo at the end of every post on our social media.