bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming website, has revealed how much an artist makes from each song listened to in an effort to fight criticism it shortchanges musicians.
On a new site aimed at artists, spotifyartist.com the company on Tuesday defended its business model against a raft of recent accusations, including from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, that streaming sites like Spotify leave singers high and dry.
Yorke pulled his solo work from Spotify in July, with his collaborator Nigel Godrich describing streaming as "an equation that just doesn't work".
In its first attempt to fight the criticism, Spotify said it paid an average "per-stream" payout of between US$0.006 and US$0.0084, though it cautioned that royalties depended greatly on where the music was produced or listened to.
Spotify said holders of rights included the artist, but could also bring in producers, managers and a record label.
"The precise division between these types of rights holders varies by territory in accordance with local laws and negotiated agreements," it said.
In the United States, for example, the artist receives about 21 per cent of the payout.
In other words, if a hit by a US singer was listened to one million times, the artist would receive about US$1,500, Spotify said.
But the company insisted the numbers told only part of the story. "Although much public discussion of Spotify has speculated about such a rate, our payouts for individual artists have grown tremendously over time as a result of our user growth, and they will continue to do so," the company said.
Created in 2006 by two Swedes, Spotify has yet to make a profit, unlike its US rival Pandora. In 2012, the company said it lost €58.7 million (HK$617.2 million), on sales of €434.7 million.


Streaming site Spotify reveals how much artists earn for each song

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. Photo: AFP

News

World