The Irony Behind Spotify's Success: Musicians Paid Poorly - Music Considered Like Factory Products

Kapanlagi.com - Behind Spotify's success as a global music streaming giant lies a series of ironies that directly impact musicians and songwriters. While it facilitates public access to millions of songs, Spotify actually places music artists in a less advantageous position.

One of the main highlights is the extremely low payment per song play, along with systemic pressure for musicians to keep producing works like factory machines.

According to a report by The Guardian (2021), Spotify pays an average of only about USD 0.003 to 0.005 per stream, equivalent to around Rp50 to Rp80 per play when converted to rupiah.

1. Shared Income

With such a low value, a musician can only earn around USD 1,000 (approximately Rp15 million) after their song is played more than 250,000 times. This amount is certainly far from enough to sustain the life of an independent artist, especially if they do not have an exclusive contract or strong management behind them.

Although Spotify claims to have paid more than 70% of its revenue to copyright holders, that figure does not necessarily flow directly into the pockets of musicians.

According to official Spotify reports and studies from Music Business Worldwide, that income must be shared again with record labels, publishers, and other third parties. As a result, musicians as the primary content creators often end up being the last to receive their share and in the smallest amounts.

2. No Breaks

Music Illustration © Shutterstock.com

This situation has led many musicians to complain about the pressure to continuously create consistently without breaks, in order to meet the demands of Spotify's algorithm. The business model of this platform tends to force creators to keep producing new songs to remain relevant and recognized by the system.

As quoted from an interview with Rolling Stone with several independent musicians, they feel like creative robots who are no longer given space to explore artistically.

Music, which is fundamentally born from life experiences, creative processes, and the search for deeper meaning, is now treated like a factory product. The necessity to always be viral, trending, and featured on popular playlists makes musicians lose their artistic freedom.

3. Led by Non-Musicians

Music Illustration © Shutterstock.com

Songwriter and singer David Byrne, in his article in the New York Times, refers to this system as a new form of exploitation in the modern entertainment industry that is no less brutal than the era of conventional record labels.

The irony is even more pronounced when remembering that Spotify is led by Daniel Ek, a former software developer with no musical background. Ek often makes statements that touch on the way musicians work, including his remarks in 2020.

4. Like Factory Goods

"Musicians can no longer release albums just every three or four years." This statement has drawn criticism from various musicians as it is seen as belittling the creative process that cannot be forced like industrial production.

With all these facts, there is a growing demand from the global musician community for a fairer and improved royalty distribution system on Spotify. Campaigns like #JusticeAtSpotify initiated by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) serve as tangible evidence of the unrest that can no longer be ignored.

(kpl/tdr)