Indie artists, labels received $4.5B of Spotify’s $9B music revenue

Spotify, the largest paid-music streaming platform in the world, announced that out of the $9 billion it generated through music last year, $4.5 billion went to indie artists and labels.

It is the largest-ever payout independent music rights holders gained from Spotify.

Indie rising
Artists and music labels not associated with major music studios have grown in number over the past decade. In label ownership alone, the indie sector accounted for a 35.74% share of the overall music business market in 2023, according to figures released by Luminate. That is more than Universal Music Group’s 29.35%.

Spotify said it has paid $48 billion to the music industry since 2008 (when it launched) and that nearly 70% of its revenue went back to the industry.

The music streaming giant accounted for 20% of global music revenue, totaling over $45 billion in 2023.

Overall
Spotify boasts 236 million paying subscribers worldwide, followed by Tencent Music Entertainment (102.7 million), Apple Music (89.8 million), Amazon Music (78.9 million) and YouTube Music (69.1 million), according to MIDiA Research’s recent report.