Last year, Spotify paid out $5 billion to rights holders, mostly the big labels, which passed along an estimated $500 million of that to recording artists. In 2020, streaming services delivered $13.4 billion in sales, representing 62% of industry revenue. in 2011, streaming was a $600 million business, accounting for 4% of the recording industry’s annual global revenue.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Daniel saved the music industry.” “Spotify was the force that transitioned hundreds of millions of users from piracy to paying customers,” says Sean Parker, who, as cofounder of Napster, was considered the Blackbeard of the music business before becoming Facebook’s first president and a Spotify investor. Spotify went public in 2018, and Ek-who in 2012 had a paper fortune of $300 million-is now worth $4.4 billion. Today, Ek’s superstreamer plays in 184 countries, has 7,400 employees and $9.7 billion in annual sales. The service had been available in America for only six months. Back then, in January 2012, Spotify had just 500 employees, $300 million in sales and a valuation of $2 billion. But unequivocally, from the data, there are more and more artists that are able to live off streaming income in itself.The company has come a long way since Ek reluctantly threw on a suit and tie-and threw back a few whiskies-to pose for the cover of the first Forbes 30 Under 30 issue ten years ago. “In private they have done that many times,' Ek added, 'but in public they have no incentive to do it. 'What tends to be reported are the people that are unhappy, but we very rarely see anyone who’s talking about… In the entire existence I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single artist saying, ‘I’m happy with all the money I’m getting from streaming.' “Even today on our marketplace, there’s literally millions and millions of artists,' Ek reasoned. “It’s quite interesting that while the overall pie is growing, and more and more people can partake in that pie, we tend to focus on a very limited set of artists,” Ek began, with regards to the reporting of streaming royalties. He addressed the issue of royalties head on in the interview, suggesting Spotify's popularity with artists who want to engage with it suggested it wasn't the bad guy. Ek added, “I feel, really, that the ones that aren’t doing well in streaming are predominantly people who want to release music the way it used to be released.”

Spotify ceo to musicians