Spotify's New Royalty Model: Over Half of Songs Ineligible for Payouts

Spotify is implementing new rules that will demonetize tracks on its platform that receive less than 1000 plays annually, redirecting funds from the 0.5% of artists who fall below this threshold to the rest of the royalty pool. This means that over half of all songs on Spotify, which have yet to reach the 1000-stream threshold, will no longer generate any royalties. Additionally, Spotify will charge penalties to distributors and labels enabling fraudulent streams and increase the playtime required for "functional" content to earn royalties. These changes mirror similar moves by Deezer and aim to address issues of low payouts and fraud in the streaming industry.