WeeklySA_AdminREVENU: Musicians generating more than R100 000 in payments from the streaming platform alone has grown more than five times since 2018…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana
Spotify launched its annual report, Loud & Clear, to increase transparency in the music industry by sharing data on Spotify’s royalty payments and breaking down the global streaming economy, the players and the process.
For the second year, Spotify is releasing data on earnings specifically for South African artists on the platform.
These are the key figures from Spotify’s 2024 Loud & Clear Report on the South African music industry:
• In 2023, royalties generated by South African artists from Spotify alone reached nearly R256 million, reflecting a nearly 240% increase since 2019 and a more than 500% increase since 2017.
• In 2023, South African artists were discovered by first-time listeners over 735 million times on Spotify.
• The number of South African artists generating over R100 000 in royalties from Spotify alone has grown more than five times since 2018.
• In 2023, nearly 2 800 South African artists were added to editorial playlists on Spotify.
“South African artists’ streaming revenues on Spotify keeps growing every year, a true testament of their immense talent. It’s a privilege to continue supporting them, in keeping with our vision of ensuring all professional artists can make a living off their art,” says Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s SSA managing director.
Amapiano, South Africa’s musical juggernaut, continues its reign with its irresistible beats and viral dance crazes. Spotify’s data unveils a surge in local music consumption in South Africa, with Amapiano tracks garnering significant attention. While the industry remains male-dominated, female artists are making strides, with average streams seeing a 49% increase in 2023.
On a global scale, Spotify’s Loud & Clear report highlights the platform’s profound impact on the music industry, with record-breaking payments to rights holders and substantial growth in streaming revenues. Songwriters, in particular, have reaped the benefits, with Spotify shelling out nearly $4 billion to publishing rights holders over the past two years, driving unprecedented revenues for songwriters worldwide.
Spotify is the world’s biggest music streaming platform by number of subscribers. Users of the service simply need to register to have access to one of the largest collections of music in history, plus podcasts and other audio content.
It operates on a freemium model. Free Spotify access comes with lower sound quality, advertisements and requires an internet connection. Those who pay for Spotify Premium can listen uninterrupted to high-quality recordings and are able to download songs for offline listening.
Spotify was founded in 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden, by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. The two wanted to create a legal digital music platform to respond to the growing challenge of online music piracy in the early 2000s.
Eventually convincing record labels to agree to share content in return for an aggregate 20 percent stake, the service was launched in 2008. It was an instant success, with a Facebook partnership helping it rise rapidly to prominence. Surviving the transition to mobile, Spotify went public in April 2018, with a market cap of $26.5 billion after the first day of trading.
It has drawn criticism from recording artists, who complain that it pays too little, according to Business of Apps. Claims to democratise the music industry have also been questioned, with the world’s biggest four music labels responsible for 87 percent of content available on Spotify.
Spotify has branched off into podcasts, acquiring some of the leading podcasters and podcast networks, such as the Joe Rogan Experience, The Ringer, and Gimlet Media. It sees this as the next pillar of its streaming service, potentially keeping users locked onto the platform for longer.
It also, along with most social networks, launched a Clubhouse-like live audio platform, which it first named Greenroom but relaunched as Spotify Live. Like Clubhouse, live audio has fallen off somewhat since the pandemic, but Spotify and Twitter look best to capitalise on whatever audience is left, according to Business of Apps.
A total of 551 million people use Spotify once a month, of which 220 million are subscribers. A catalogue of 100 million songs are available on Spotify in addition to five million podcasts.– www.fullviiew.co.za; additional info sourced from Business of Apps
