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Comment by thebiglebrewski | Hacker News Reader

How does this work if Spotify supposedly pays all artists in the same way?

Who said they pay them the same way? Spotify has never said that and it is most certainly not true. They carefully worded that they pay roughly 70% to rights holders, and that it is their percentage of the total streams, times their rate. They did not ever say everyone gets the same rate. They just tried to imply it so that artists would stop bitching.

The rate is what the rights holder pays to the artist. The rights holders all get paid on the same formula.

http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/#royalties-i...

They probably just cut them a check as a flat payment; streaming terms the same.

A good friend of mine in the music biz had this to say, in response to my questions:

"They absolutely don't pay every artist the same amount. Besides the fact that per-stream rates are almost meaningless because they vary month-to-month as Spotify's own revenues fluctuate, I would be willing to believe major labels get a higher payout as a result of their equity positions. And with that, it isn't too preposterous that Atlantic (via parent WMG) would have brought Led Zeppelin exclusively to Spotify on special terms such as a minimum per-stream rate, some free extended term advertising to artificially boost data figures, or something entirely more enticing. And even if Spotify is, in fact, paying out an equal rate for Led Zeppelin streams, it may be that Atlantic received a nice advance--or even a debt-free bonus--as an incentive."

http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/

"That 70% is split amongst the rights holders in accordance with the popularity of their music on the service. The label or publisher then divides these royalties and accounts to each artist depending on their individual deals."

So maybe Spotify is dealing with the labels/publishers (Atlantic has Zepp) to cut this special deal and perhaps allow them a bigger rev share?

You beat me to it. Wasn't there a judgment against Spotify because they hadn't paid ANY Artists yet?

Are you perhaps thinking of Grooveshark? They were sued (and in a bad legal spot) over unpaid royalties, can't find any reference to Spotify and unpaid royalties online.

You might be right. I tried to find a link. However, revealing that they only pay 0.006 per stream? They might as well not pay Artists. What a joke!

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