We are the music makers

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  • Spotify's audiobook "bundle" still costs songwriters, and the MLC just lost its shortcut

    A New York federal judge has refused to let the Mechanical Licensing Collective appeal early against the ruling that Spotify Premium is a "bundle" with audiobooks, which lets Spotify pay US songwriters a lower mechanical rate. The judge also threw out Spotify's "unclean hands" defence. Songwriters now wait for the whole case to finish, even though subscription prices rose again in February.

    Artist rightsvia US District Court, Southern District of New York

  • Spotify doesn't pay per stream: streamshare explained with real numbers

    Spotify pays rights holders a share of each country's monthly royalty pool, in proportion to their share of streams there. The "per-stream rate" is a number worked out afterwards, which is why it moves by country and month, and why your deal matters more than the rate.

    Industryvia Spotify

  • How YouTube Shorts actually pays when someone uses your song

    Shorts don't pay per play. YouTube pools Shorts Feed ad money each month, takes out a music share for every Short that uses a licensed track, and the music share reaches artists only through a label or distributor. Here is the maths, with YouTube's own worked example, and what to check in your statements.

    Industryvia YouTube Help

  • Bought streams can cost you real money: Spotify's artificial-streaming fee explained

    Since April 2024 Spotify has charged labels and distributors a fee per track when it finds flagrant artificial streaming, and the big distributors pass it straight to artists, at about €10 per flagged track per month. Here is how the penalty works, how artists who never bought a bot get caught, and how to vet a promoter before you pay one.

    Industryvia Spotify for Artists

  • Canada backs off making Spotify pay for Canadian music, and the money has stopped

    Ottawa has told the Federal Court of Appeal it plans to scrap the rule that large foreign streamers pay 5% of their Canadian revenue into Canadian content funds, and replace it with government money. The 31 August payment date came and went with no new transfers. For music, that means FACTOR, Musicaction and the funds behind early-career artists swap a levy that grew with streaming for a budget line that can be cut.

    Industryvia Department of Justice Canada (via Cartt.ca)

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