Spotify’s recent offer of targeted algorithmic song placement in exchange for a lower royalty rate continues to draw fire.
“Spotify’s suggestion to promise more exposure in exchange of lower royalty rates shows once more its profound disrespect to the community of creators who struggle to make a living,” writes The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance in a strongly-worded statement today. “Such a “payola” also puts the spotlight on Spotify’s opaque practices which effectively results in a pay-for-play model to the benefit of a few players with detrimental consequences for the vast majority creators, consumer choice and cultural diversity alike.”
The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA) represents over 30,000 professional composers and songwriters in 27 European countries.
According to ESCA, recent Spotify data shows that rate the streamer pays is already low and further decreased recently:
“On average, Spotify pays most artists between $.003 and $.005 for each stream[1], in the best possible scenario. The company also appealed against better royalty rates for songwriters in the US while the average yearly salary of a Spotify’s employee hit $132,301 in 2018 – more than double what it was in 2011[2].
Separately, more than 18,000 musicians have signed a letter demanding that Spotify pay at least 1 cent per stream.
