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Jul 31, 2020 By Jennifer Irving

Spotify has been notoriously criticized for its low payout, with smaller artists arguing that the most-streamed artists are awarded an unfair advantage. In a new interview with Music Ally, CEO Daniel Ek claims that’s not Spotify’s problem, basically implying that if musicians want to succeed they need to constantly churn out new music.

It has become apparent in recent years that profit made off of an artist’s actual record only accounts for a small amount of their revenue, with most income coming through touring and live shows. With the rise of COVID-19, especially in the U.S., artists have been forced to cancel and postpone tours, meaning a large portion of their income as musicians has suddenly disappeared.

Despite this, Ek doesn’t believe there’s an issue with the current system, but rather that this is the future model of income for musicians. Ek says that “some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.”

In order to stay relevant he says that “the artists today that are making it realize that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.”

In a time where Spotify’s stock has increased 125% since the start of the pandemic in March and the company is now worth $50 billion, many musicians found it in poor taste to put the lack of streaming income on the artist. See some tweets below.

You are an obnoxious greedy little shit Daniel Ek https://t.co/8tZx55LeDe

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) July 31, 2020

These struggling working musicians that only want to put out a record every 3 to 4 years are the Antifa of the music industry. https://t.co/ApT4dygNqS

— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) July 31, 2020

it is extremely clear that @Spotify billionaire daniel ek has never made music, or art of any kind for that matter. he refuses to understand there’s a difference between commodities and art. the potential for cultural growth will suffer because of it.

— ZOLA JESUS OF TSUSHIMA (@ZOLAJESUS) July 30, 2020

we are living in an age that encourages artists to make weaker work at a faster rate. that level of pressure and de-prioritization of quality is the antithesis to great work, and in such case, we will have a surplus of shitty music. is that really what we want? or need?

— ZOLA JESUS OF TSUSHIMA (@ZOLAJESUS) July 30, 2020

i took my thoughts off twitter and responded to daniel ek’s latest interview about @Spotify and the realities of how streaming has changed the landscape for musicians.

public post.https://t.co/7lUeaIulET pic.twitter.com/RQcW0fe7ue

— ZOLA JESUS OF TSUSHIMA (@ZOLAJESUS) July 31, 2020

ill never forget when my dad sat me on his knee, and showed me his dusty old vinyl record collection.he pulled out Daniel Ek’s “Q2 2020 Results” LP, it was magical moment we shared & why i became a musician. whenever i hear “Audio-First Focus” come on the radio, I think of my dad https://t.co/hq2j9moEFu

— Fucked Up (@FUCKEDUP) July 31, 2020

I mean, Hendrix put out an album every few months and it worked out great for him! *CHECKS NOTES https://t.co/KOAF6zq0KT

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 31, 2020

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