Spotify wants to help artists better monetize their music

Pressured by certain majors in the recording industry such as Universal Music Group (UMG), which demand better remuneration for their artists, Spotify is responding in its own way by unveiling a series of new services for creators.

During an event organized in Los Angeles, “Stream On”, the world leader in music streaming announced several changes to the platform, both to strengthen the relationship between the artist and the fans, in particular through a new mobile interface dynamic, with more video and music clips, and to expand monetization opportunities for creators.

The platform is pleased in passing to have donated to rights holders nearly 40 billion dollars since its creation in 2006 and to now have more than half a billion active monthly users.

Focus on video

Like social networks like TikTok, the presence of video will be reinforced, right from the home page, which until now has been relatively static. Creators will be able to post short videos of less than 30 seconds, such as mini-clips illustrating their music, excerpts to promote a podcast or messages to their fans. These videos will also be highlighted in the playlists.

“This will allow users browsing the home page to get an idea of ​​the content before they even click on it,” said Spotify’s general manager in France, Antoine Monin. Short formats of about ten seconds already existed. More and more podcasts will now also be published in video format.

Artists will also be able to better alert their fans of an upcoming album release, with a preview format, where it will be possible to post various information such as the list of titles, musical extracts, video messages or even an account to countdown.

Concert tickets

Last but not least, the platform will give all artists the opportunity to promote their concert dates directly on their pages, which will be displayed at the top of the playlists with links to ticketing sites. In the same way, it will also be possible for them to market their derivative products. These functionalities will be integrated into the back office of the application, “Spotify for Artists”. Spotify does not take a commission – for now – on these services, which are intended to increase artists’ income.

The platform, which donates approximately 70% of its revenue to music rights holders and posted significant losses in 2022, continues to be regularly criticized for the income deemed too low that the artists derive from it. At the beginning of the year, the boss of UMG, Lucian Grainge, called for an evolution of the remuneration model for streaming platforms. Without changing its own, Spotify shows that the message has been heard.