Aug. 30, 2012–Spotify’s per-stream royalty payments to one independent artist are showing the heft people might have thought impossible just a few years ago. David Harrell of the band the Layaways regularly posts numbers from his band’s CD Baby royalty statement at his blog, Digital Audio Insider. Harrrell’s latest post sums up nearly three years of Spotify royalties.
Spotify Grew Fast, Lost Money in 2011 — No Surprises
Warning: reading about Spotify per-stream payouts may cause a person to compare these royalties to the revenues of iTunes and CD purchases without regard for the volume of streams or the period of time over which an artist can receive streaming royalties. This often leads to feelings that artists are underpaid by subscription services based on the historical rates of payments for downloads and physical items. Such a conclusion cannot be reached without taking into account volume of streams and the period of time over which royalties are collected. Read more.
