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4 months ago
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The number of artists generating royalties at every threshold has at least tripled since 2017
But the number of people with at least one track on Spotify has increased even more
Then Now
Paradox of the Modern Music Industry
There are more artists making more money on Spotify than ever before. In fact, the number of artists generating royalties at every threshold on this site — from $1,000 to $10 million per year* — has at least tripled since 2017. Ten years ago, the top artist on Spotify generated just over $5 million. Today, there are over 200 artists who have passed that threshold.
Know what’s grown even faster? The number of uploaders to Spotify, which is now nearly 12 million. Looking back to the peak of the CD era, only a few thousand artists had their music on the shelves of record stores.
The paradox? Streaming has allowed millions to easily share their music globally — that’s an amazing thing. But the sheer volume of uploaders means the fraction who find success appears smaller over time. The fact remains: Thanks to streaming, more artists than ever before are generating royalties at every career stage. More than at any time in music history. And we think that’s what really matters.
*These figures represent revenue generated from Spotify alone. Taking into account earnings from other recorded revenue streams, these artists likely generated more than 4x this amount.
