Why Spotify’s CEO Is Worth Billions While Musicians Make Pennies
Why are so many artists struggling in a booming music industry? Over 600 million people globally have streaming subscriptions, with most of them paying about 12 bucks a month. And for musicians, it’s never been easier to release work into the world. But ease of access doesn’t mean things are becoming more fair. Streaming services like Spotify have so much power and influence. With a whole new world of corporate middlemen, an already highly consolidated industry has only become even more consolidated. Music today is a winner-takes-all economy. And the biggest winners of all aren’t even musicians.
To read Liz Pelly’s book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist visit lizpelly.info/book
Correction: Artists report making, on average, only $0.003 to $0.005 per stream on the platform. In text-on-screen in our video, we wrote “.0035 cents per stream” where it should say “$0.0035 per stream”
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@MillionaireJoe
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
There’s one thing left out of all of these conversations where we talk about the greedy CEOs and streaming companies…the greedy audience!
We want to be able to stream all music known to man for $10 a month…and we want to stream all that music, as MUCH as we want…and have all of the creators be paid “fairly”…from $10/month
Does that even mathematically make sense to you? It actually doesn’t…but nobody wants to talk about that because we want to be able to keep doing it 🤷🏽♂️😂
@isajoha9962
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Spotify is like a rigged game with cheat codes? 😮…😅 "then we ended up with music" or perhaps "then we ended music", "a million streams is actually a low amount of streams" Yeah, like not worth the effort.
@jasonsmith475
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Working on building something better right now Liz!!! Would love to speak to some like minded people! Currently looking for funding as we build! But really need like minded, ARTIST first, unselfish people! If you know someone, we'd love to talk to them!
@Idkwhattoput-n4s
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Want a break from the music, use Spotify free
@OPLIAMmusic
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Mann this shit just makes me sad
@pastspiral4797
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Anyone have alternatives they'd like to share?
@thewelfarian2721
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Kinda boring. Don't like the game, tough.
@penaFabian-e7w8y
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
This video resonated deeply with me, especially as I approach retirement this year on a generous biweekly income of $23K. You've been an incredible inspiration, and I'm grateful for the impact you've had on my life!❤*
@frankeydaniels
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I’m a musician, artist, and engineer. And as musicians we can all agree that making music is not EASY!! Not even for the talented sometimes. You have to keep at it until you have those moments and save them and continue to work on them to their perfection. Sad to see big corporate robbing us, the same people who give us money and then tax it all away. Smh
@AmitAmit-r4c
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend about how manifesting never seemed to work for me. I’d tried so many methods but still felt stuck. We heard about a book called Manifest the Unseen by Luna Rivers on a podcast, and I was hesitant at first. But after reading just a few chapters, I realized how much I was missing. Eva's approach is so different from anything I’ve ever tried. It’s not just about thinking positive, it’s about aligning with real-world actions that bring your desires into reality. Now, I’ve manifested opportunities I never imagined possible, and my mindset has shifted completely. If you’re frustrated like I was, don’t hesitate. Read this book. It will change everything ❤
@Divyanshthakur18-k6c
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Love this!
@AnilSolanki-q1w
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Honestly, it breaks my heart how Manifest the Unseen by Luna Rivers isn’t getting the attention it deserves. This book changed me. People need to wake up to this.
@RakeshDhurwey-e8i
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
nice!💫💰
@BhupatYadav-x6i
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
always love your videos
@rachelosborne8456
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I ditched spotify after finding out that the ceo is investing in ai specifically for military application. Not that i was okay with his salary and the price increases, or the ai integration into spotify, but that was the very last straw. I bought an mp3 player instead, and I have been enjoying it SO MUCH MORE
@matthewlewis2274
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Sadly Canada's digital services tax has been put on hold as our PM Carney tries to make a trade deal with Trump. Unclear why he thinks Trump would honor/stick to this deal any more than the last two.
@TiagoReeves
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
“A million streams is a very low amount of streams”. And with that said 🤣 good fucking luck
@henrymartin9168
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
🙏Thank you lord Jesus I hit $123,590 today. Thank you for all the knowledge and nuggets had thrown my way over the last week.i started with 9k in last week now i just hit $123,590🎉😢😢😢🎉
@nataliezementbeisser1492
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
he is stealing it. simple as that
@KyleBevis-u7j
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Can someone do the maths to figure out how much the musicians would actually make if the executive teams weren’t getting paid billions per year?
@ModusVivendiMedia
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
"My sort of dream vision for where we end up with Spotify would be… that we AI generate all the music, so it costs nothing to generate and we own all the copyrights, and I get to keep 100% of the subscription and advertising revenue for myself." – Daniel Ek (unedited, in his mind)
@Corey_Monsewicz
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
There's no need for a valley girl host, ever. I'm unsubscribing, this is a leftist psy op.
@RoizersqenTurkee
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Can a particular artist come up with their own music streaming platforms?
@bencolemanart
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Liz Pelly is great, her book is awesome. I took down all my music from Spotify and convinced my family to cancel our family account once it came out that Ek had dumped his millions made off the backs of artists into a new AI driven weapons firm – the last straw of many offences. The entire model is morally bankrupt.
@Strongo
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Easy solution: don’t use Spotify
@tayloreh
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Im holding a concert in Peterborough Ontatio that doubles as a Spotify quitting party (and helping folks switch to better services). Sept 19th. Come.
@SuchiththaW
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Would've been nice if there were links to all these musicians in a pinned comment & the description. Great reporting as usual though.
@Foreverlovely-dg7xd
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Trying to cut down from the 10.6k songs i have saved so i can leave the platform bc in good heart i cannot support a business that is investing in ai weapons manufacturing. Im gonna miss how easy it is to discover good music but it was going to go to shit anyways putting ai artists in the mix too on purpose at that.
@actorneno
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Cause he is a criminal
@teresasnider7662
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I would love to listen to this video but the narrator has such horrible vocal fry, I had to turn it off. I applaud this channel and your work at supporting musical artists and uncovering the sickness of the streaming industry. If you want to have a voice that helps others, it may be helpful to get some help for your own voice and retrain what is probably an unconscious but harmful way of speaking. I won’t listen to any content with vocal fry, not because it annoys me, but because I can hear the actual harm you’re doing to your vocal cords. If it is the result of a medical condition, my apologies. It is still something I won’t listen to.😔
@clintonhowe88
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Theft. The answer is theft.
@vapeking466
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I have never paid for a music service and never will. So they aren't getting rich off me. However greed is literally killing America! The wealthy were not so greedy decades ago and the sick part most of these filthy rich people are in ngo's that are literally in control of our government through massive wealth most are also financially supporting The World Economic Forum which is against we the peeople. Unfortunately these folkks dont know what real life is like anymore because they always had a life of luxury. 🙏
@MultipleOffenses
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
My tolerance for these technerdbros is rapidly declining. They just ruin everything. "Music isn't fun to make" — hey, just because YOU couldn't learn to play an instrument/create music outside of Guitar Hero doesn't mean it's not fun, geek.
@MPR2
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
What exactly do the CEOs do to earn THAT much money??? Legal thievery!
@lecheflan4777
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Sorry, but this narrator has the most ANNOYING cadence of speech. It's unwatchable.
@34959
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I don't understand why anyone would use spotify when youtube, applemusic, soundcloud, and bandcamp exists.
@katbalu53
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
OMG, I can’t listen to this reporter…
@MaximeKasasa
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
Hmmmm, Algorithm doesn’t like criticism on Spotify it seems 👀
@The_KnowBuddy
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
The short answer: because brainless people choose to pay for a spotify subscription. It was your choice. The artists have YOU to thank. If no one had subscribed all of this wouldn't even be a thing.
@MarikaStraw
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
What are folks' best recommendations for alternative platforms? I'm on Bandcamp as an artist and working on switching my streaming over to Tidal. Others?
@nodfactor8808
August 2, 2025 at 8:03 am
I've been sharing this and some other videos on this topic with my friends and family. A bunch of which have stopped using Spotify now. Definitely hope more and more people shift away from it. 🤞🏽
Comments are closed.