In defence of Spotify

‘Pitiful.’ That’s the verdict of Damian Green MP, acting chair of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, on the payouts that streaming companies such as Spotify and Apple Music provide to musicians. An update to the group’s Economics of Music Streaming report, published on Friday, calls on the government to take a ‘proactive strategic role’ to make sure Britain’s music industry – one of the few that truly is world-beating – gets the cash it deserves.

With streaming now accounting for 84 per cent of UK recorded music revenues, its businesses model really matters. Spotify controls up to 60 per cent of the British streaming market (Apple Music and Amazon trail behind with less than 20 per cent each), and it’s long been pilloried for the miserly rate it pays out to artists – somewhere between 0.2 and 0.7p per stream. Last year, indie band the Pocket Gods released an album of 1,000 30-second songs, in a wry commentary on the fact that Spotify registers a ‘play’ half a minute into each song.