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As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard now features a royalty calculator for Spotify and Apple Music for readers. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Created by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a legal and consulting firm that specializes in […]
As part of our continuing efforts to serve the music industry and its creators, Billboard now features a royalty calculator for Spotify and Apple Music for readers. The calculator below was created by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a legal and consulting firm that specializes in music industry law; and is based on the firm’s analysis […]
Taylor Swift has done it again. The pop star’s re-recorded 1989 album has made Spotify history in its first 24 hours of release. Spotify announced on Saturday (Oct. 28) that 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Swift’s 21-track album that arrived on Friday, is officially the most-streamed album in a single day in the streaming service’s history. But […]
On Tuesday (Oct. 24), Iñigo Quintero’s “Si No Estás” garnered more than 5.7 million plays in just one day, an impressive amount that pushed it to the top of Spotify‘s global chart. It’s the first time a solo Spanish artist has achieved this milestone (previously Canary Islander Quevedo accomplished the feat alongside Argentina’s Bizarrap with “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52”), and it’s all the more shocking because, at least outside of Spain, Quintero was until recently a total unknown.
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The song also reached the coveted top 10 on Billboard‘s global charts, peaking at No. 4 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and No. 10 on Billboard Global 200. And with daily plays surpassing such popular tracks as Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” or Young Miko’s “Wiggy,” the meteoric rise is also enigmatic in that it has occurred without any traditional promotion, publicity, press releases or information about the artist behind the sensation. (Billboard Español requested an interview with Quintero’s representative and the response was that he is not currently talking to the company).
With verses like “Esto es una alucinación/ Quiero ver tu otra mitad/ Alejarme de esta ciudad/ Y contagiarme de tu forma de pensar” (“This is a delusion/ I want to see your other half/ Get away from this city/ And immerse in your way of thinking.”) “Si No Estás” is a piano-pop ballad that alludes to an intense obsession and longing for someone who is far away, and the anguish and pain that result from that separation — a song of unusual depth for a 2023 pop hit.
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“Clearly, Iñigo’s songs are connecting with the people,” says Esteve Lombarte, founder of the Acqustic label, who represents the artist. “I think for a long time we’ve had more superficial songs focused on lives of great luxury — of cars, wealth and houses — and nowadays, there are a lot more connecting with day-to-day problems that talk about love, friendship and other issues related to people’s concerns.”
What is certain is the power of the song and its meaning, which has generated a great deal of debate on social networks. “Si No Estás” has been interpreted in different ways, from a song dedicated to God, to a reflection on a romantic breakup.
Lombarte explains that the song began to go viral organically through TikTok, and immediately connected with listeners. “From that initial boost we decided to amplify [the song],” he says. Quintero connected with the label through his other artist Besmaya, and in March 2023 they signed him.
“The truth is that the success of ‘Si No Estás’ is an unprecedented triumph in the industry, but we believe that what is behind this song is a very talented artist,” Lombarte points out. “And the rest of the songs are really doing very well too. The proof of that is that ‘Sobredosis’ is already in the top 100 in Spain, and there will be more and more songs, and we will get to know more of the artist little by little.”
He continues: “The clearest proof is that countries like France, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg, Switzerland — non-Spanish-speaking countries — have also connected with the artist beyond the lyrics. It is part of the magic of this art.”
Other projects that Aqcustic manages are Malmö 040, Besmaya, Ciao Marina, Maren, Yarea, Inazio and Hey Kid. “After this great success, what we will do is to continue working and preparing songs. The important thing is to sit down, compose and work to release music that connect as well as ‘Si No Estás’ has connected,” adds Lombarte.
Additional reporting by Franchesca Guim.
Spotify is planning to implement changes to its streaming royalty model in early 2024 that would affect the lowest-streaming acts, non-music noise tracks and distributors and labels committing fraud, sources tell Billboard.
Conversations have been going on for weeks with the major record labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, as well as independent labels and distributors, sources say. While the new royalty system will keep its existing pro-rata model, it introduces new floors that will grow the pool for more established artists and rights holders.
The changes to Spotify’s royalty model, which were first reported by Music Business Worldwide, include:
A new threshold of minimum annual streams that a track must meet before it starts to generate royalties. The threshold, according to MBW, will de-monetize tracks that had previously received 0.5% of Spotify’s royalty pool.
Financial penalties for music distributors and labels when fraudulent activity on tracks they have uploaded to Spotify has been detected.
A minimum play-time length that non-music noise tracks, such as bird sounds or white noise, must reach to generate royalties.
The specific benchmarks of these changes and how financial penalties will be calculated or implemented are currently unclear.
Spotify will need new agreements to the royalty structure changes with most record labels and distributors to implement the plan, but that doesn’t mean entirely new licensing renewals. Changes can be made specifically for these elements, sources say. And since the major labels — which all negotiate their deal renewals with Spotify on different timelines — are likely to benefit from the new terms, they are all likely to sign onto them.
When reached for comment, a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement, “We’re always evaluating how we can best serve artists, and regularly discuss with partners ways to further platform integrity. We do not have any news to share at this time.”
The standard, existing pro-rata streaming model has been a major topic of consideration this year, ever since Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge called for an “updated model” for the business that will be “an innovative, ‘artist-centric’ model that values all subscribers and rewards the music they love” in his annual New Year’s letter to staff. Following, UMG announced partnerships with Tidal, Deezer and Soundcloud to explore alternative models, and reports surfaced that similar conversations were underway with the other leading streaming platforms.
In July, during UMG’s second quarter earnings call, Grainge announced a “newly expanded agreement” with Spotify, under which he said “they have committed to continue to work to address” what he outlined as key components to the “artist-centric” approach: Fairly rewarding “real artists with real fanbases” for “the platform engagement they drive”; applying “stricter fraud detection and enforcement systems” and “ensuring real artists don’t have their royalties diluted by noise”; and “better aligning the relationship between artists and fans by promoting greater discovery and promotion of real artists.” Two out of three of these priorities are now being pursued by Spotify.
In September, UMG and Deezer outlined a new model for what they called “artist-centric streaming.” That model was similar, albeit more severe, than what Spotify is planning. It included royalty “boosts” for “professional” artists whose music streamed above a threshold, while promising to crack down on fraud and replace “non-artist noise content” with its own functional music that would be excluded from the royalty pool.
Unlike Spotify — which relies heavily on industry-leading algorithm-recommended playlists and auto-play, lean-back listening — Deezer’s plan also demoted passive listening royalties by “boosting” artists who are actively searched for by users. Unlike Deezer, Spotify is planning to roll this out will all major labels and leading independent labels and distributors.
Spotify reported its first profitable quarter in more than a year on Tuesday, after subscription price hikes, lay offs and marketing budget cuts helped boost revenues and operating income for music streaming and podcasting giant.
Spotify reported revenues for the third quarter rose 11% to 3.4 billion euros ($3.6 billion), and operating income over 32 million euros ($34 million). The company beat its growth guidance on both monthly active users and subscribers, adding 23 million monthly active users, a 26% uplift, for a total of 574 million compared to the year ago period. The number of premium subscribers rose by 6 million, or 16%, to 226 million from the year ago period.
The company said that the uptick in revenue is due to the early effects of its $1 price hike on premium individual plans and a rebound in the ad market, as improving podcasting trends and lower operating expenses after January’s company-wide cost cuts helped operating income turn a 1% profit.
The company told investors they could expect total monthly active users (MAU) and premium subscribers to continue to grow for the rest of the year–by 27 million net new MAUs and 9 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter 2023–which is expected to boost total revenues by 3% and gross margin by 0.2%.
Spotify reported a free cash flow of 216 million euros for the quarter, up from 25 million euros a year ago. As of Sept. 30, the company says it employed 9,241 full time employees worldwide, down from roughly 9,800 at the end of 2022.
Spotify has been managing a reboot of its podcasting strategy this year, moving away from the hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring podcast start-up and programing under former Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff. Spotify now hosts over 100 million tracks, 5 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.
The company also benefitted from a rebound in ad-supported revenue, which rose 16% to 447 million euros ($475 million), helped by a 20% uptick in music. “Podcast advertising revenue growthremained in the healthy double-digit range,” according to a Spotify release.
Monthly active users rose by 26% to 574 million, compared to the third quarter 2022, beating guidance by 2 million.
The number of subscribers rose by 16% to 226 million from the year ago period, also ahead of guidance by 2 million.
Ad-supported monthly active users rose by 32% to 361 million from the year ago period.
Total revenue rose 11% to 3.36 billion euros ($3.57 billion) from 3.04 billion euros ($3.2 billion).
Revenue from preimium subscriptions rose by 10% to 2.9 billion euros ($3.08 billion).
Revenue from ad supported users rose 16% to 447 million euros ($475 million).
Operating income was 32 million euros ($34 million), bosted by higher gross margin and lower personnel and marketing costs.
The company’s gross margin was 26.4%, compared to 24.7% in the third quarter 2022.
The 2023 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), set for Sunday, Nov. 19, will include a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Spotify ‘Fans First’ to bring fans up-close-and-personal with their favorite artists. The BBMAs will roll out performances and awards across BBMAs and Billboard social channels, as well as via BBMAs.watch, on that date. Performances and award celebrations will take place in global locations, in the midst of sold-out tours and in custom venues.
The goal is to deliver a fresh award show concept that will entertain fans with hours of music and exclusive content, including winner celebrations, behind-the-scenes moments and performances created by the world’s biggest artists.
In addition, the BBMAs and Spotify have teamed to identify fans who have consumed the most hours of music over the past year and helped drive their favorite artist to the top spots on the Billboard charts. These fans will receive a “golden ticket” granting them access to attend a performance curated by their favorite artist, expressly for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards. Fans First is Spotify’s program that offers exclusive rewards and privileges like one-of-a-kind concerts, personal artist experiences, merch drops and first-in-line presales to an artist’s most devoted Spotify listeners.
“We’ve heard the fans loud and clear, and we’re excited to meet them where they are, and everywhere they want to consume music and content,” Maddy Mesevage, SVP, marketing, Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement. “This year’s show is an epic celebration of the fans who propelled their favorite artists to the top of the Billboard charts. To thank them, we are thrilled to work with Spotify and the artists themselves to offer their most loyal fans an experience they’ll never forget.”
Unique among music award shows, Billboard Music Awards winners are determined by year-end performance metrics on the Billboard charts, the music industry’s ultimate authority and data-driven measure of success. The eligibility dates for this year’s awards are aligned with Billboard’s Year-End Charts tracking period, which measures music consumption from the charts dated Nov. 19, 2022 through Oct. 21, 2023.
The Billboard Music Awards aired on Fox from 1990-2006, always in December. After a four-year hiatus, the show returned in 2011. It aired on ABC from 2011-17, and on NBC from 2018-22. Throughout this period, it aired in May, except for the pandemic-delayed 2020 show, which aired in October.
This year’s show will be in the thick of awards season. The Nov. 19 show will occur nine days after the Grammy nominations are announced, and just a few weeks before final-round Grammy voting begins on Dec. 14.
Finalists – the show does not use the word “nominees,” because the finalists and recipients are data-driven – and performers will be announced in the coming weeks. The 2023 Billboard Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Lexus and Marriott Bonvoy are partners of this year’s show.
Follow the BBMAs on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and YouTube, join the conversation with #BBMAs and get the latest news and updates at BillboardMusicAwards.com and billboard.com/bbma.
Bad Bunny‘s just-released album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, is already setting records. Spotify announced Friday (Oct. 13) that the project is their most-streamed album in a single day in 2023 so far. “We all knew Bad Bunny would break records with this new album,” reads a message on Spotify’s social accounts. […]
Spotify is giving subscribers in some of the company’s largest markets up to 15 hours of listening time per month to a library of more than 150,000 audiobooks, the company announced Tuesday (Oct. 3). Audiobook access is available to premium individual subscribers as well as the primary account holders for family and Duo accounts (a […]
It’s been nearly 20 months since Neil Young pulled his music off Spotify and, according to Billboard’s estimate, the move has cost him about $300,000 so far in lost recorded music and publishing royalties.
On Jan. 24, 2022, the singer-songwriter gave the streaming company an ultimatum: “You can have Rogan or Young. Not both.” Young blamed Rogan and his Spotify-exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, for spreading “fake information about vaccines” and putting the public’s health at risk. Spotify acquiesced a few days later and removed Young’s catalog from its platform.
Other artists in Young’s circle of friends, such as Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren, also requested that Spotify remove their music from the platform — and remain off to this day. But Young’s absence leaves the largest hole in Spotify’s catalog: 45 studio albums, two EPs and 12 live albums as a solo artist and with his band Crazy Horse, plus compilations and soundtracks, that includes such rock classics as “Cinnamon Girl,” “Heart of Gold” and “Rockin’ in a Free World.”
Young’s open letter and demand for removal from Spotify attracted worldwide media attention and caused a brief spike in streams, but his departure from the platform at the end of January 2022 created an immediate decline in his average stream rate — and it hasn’t rebounded since, according to Luminate data. From 2021 to Sept. 21, 2023, Young’s average weekly global on-demand audio streams declined 32% from 10.5 million to 7.1 million. The actual loss is deeper considering that weekly on-demand audio streams in the U.S., Young’s largest market, increased 25% over that period.
The impact of Young’s Spotify pullout isn’t much for an artist of his stature and net worth, but it’s not nothing, either. Each month Young is away from Spotify, he loses about $16,000 in royalties from both his record label and his music publishing, according to Billboard analysis of Luminate data.
In nearly 20 months, Young’s absence has cost him about 273 million on-demand audio streams. The gross amount of lost royalties during Young’s Spotify absence totals roughly $1.3 million. Billboard estimates that Young’s labels, Warner Music Group’s Reprise Records and Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records, have lost approximately $1 million in gross revenues, from which Young receives a royalty. Young’s gross publishing revenue has fallen about $270,000. Young sold 50% of his publishing rights to Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2021.
Sales of Young’s music in the U.S. have dropped, too, although whether his absence from Spotify played a role is unknown. So far in 2023, Young has sold about 25% fewer albums per week than compared to 2021; 2022’s weekly average was 9% below 2021 levels. Physical album sales, which outnumber digital album sales nearly eight-to-one for Young, are down 24% from 2021 to 2023. This year, weekly digital album sales are off 29% from 2021 (they increased 3% in 2022). Young’s weekly digital track sales have fallen by 35% from 2021 to 2023.
The cumulative effect of the sales slowdowns amounted to 59,000 fewer album sales and 54,000 fewer track sales over nearly 20 months. (Luminate does not track the Neil Young Archive, an online subscription service that provides access to a vast catalog of Young’s audio and video, but in October 2019 Wired reported it had 25,000 subscribers with a goal to reach 40,000 paying $1.99 a month.)
There’s much more to Young’s career than Spotify, though, and plenty of other ways for him and his rights holders to earn off his music. In the last 18 months, for example, Young’s music has been used in over 75 TV and film synchs, according to a person with knowledge of the songwriter’s business. These have included the NBC series “This Is Us” (Jill Andrews’ cover of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”), the AMC series “Dark Winds” (Young’s recording of “Birds”), the Hulu series “Poker Face” (Young’s recording of “Walk On”), “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (the band’s performance of “Old Man”) and “Sunday Night Football” (Beck’s cover of “Old Man”).
One place you won’t see Young’s music is advertisements. Young is famously opposed to using his music to sell products and advertise corporate brands. Young encapsulated his distaste for putting music in advertisements in his 1989 song “This Note’s For You” — a take on a Budweiser ad slogan from the era, “This Bud’s For You.” “Ain’t singing’ for Pepsi, ain’t singing for Coke,” Young sang in the album’s title track. “I don’t sing for nobody, makes me look like a joke.” The song’s video stirred up controversy — and was initially banned from MTV — for its mocking depiction of a 1984 Pepsi commercial shoot during which pyrotechnics set Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire.
Surely, Young has lost untold millions of dollars over his career in potential ad sales and endorsement deals. But as an artist who’s always clearly voiced his principals and stood by them, he’s long made it clear money is not his first priority.