Can Artists Make Money on Spotify? Dee Snider Says No
Photo Credit: Alfred Nitsch / CC by 3.0
Dee Snider blasts Spotify for its artist payouts, explaining that licensing has been a much more successful moneymaking avenue for him than any streaming service.As the leading music streaming platform, Spotify has had its share of criticisms over its paltry payouts to artists for their work. Artists under major labels continue to receive an unfair advantage from the streaming service through playlist placement and promotion. But while some artists call this endemic of the broader issues across the music industry, others, like Twisted Sisterâs Dee Snider, continue to point the finger at Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
âThat guy from Spotify,â said Snider, evidently referring to Daniel Ek in a new interview with The Jeremy White Show, âI wanna tell you, he should be taken out and shot. When he heard that artists were complaining about how little we get paid, his response was âmake more musicâ â like weâre producing cans of Coke. Just (increase) the production. Insulting and belittling.â
âLicensing is the last godsend, the last oasis where you can actually make some money,â Dee explains. âSteven Spielberg chooses (Twisted Sisterâs) âWeâre Not Gonna Take Itâ for the finale of (Spielbergâs film) âReady Player One.â Thank you, God, âcause Iâm not getting anything from Spotify.â
Daniel Ek told Music Ally in 2020 that more artists who arenât making money on Spotify are complaining than the ones who are happy with the amount they receive through the streaming platformâs payouts, because the ones who are successful at it âhave no incentiveâ to speak about it publicly.
âYou canât record music once every three to four years and think thatâs going to be enough,â said Ek, who apparently believes the issue lies with artists who canât change with the times.âThe artists today that are making it realize that itâs about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. Itâs about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans,â he continued. âThe ones that arenât doing well in streaming are predominantly people who want to release music the way it used to be released.â
Meanwhile, many artists clapped back at Ek over his remarks, including Dee Snider, Skid Rowâs Sebastian Bach, and Dream Theaterâs Mike Portnoy.
âWhen this guy puts out an album himself, I will listen to him tell me about my albums,â wrote Sebastian Bach.
âWhat a greedy little bâh⊠Itâs bad enough that heâs worth billions based on stealing and giving away other musiciansâ music, but now heâs suggesting we need to make more music for him to make more money!â quipped Mike Portnoy. âI have 8 full album releases in 2020 and will make PEANUTS on them (âŠ) so his theory of artists needing to make more music to succeed is sât.â
âI think artists should do whatever they feel led to do,â said Stryper frontman Michael Sweet. âIf thatâs every year or if thatâs every 10 years, itâs not his place to tell artists what to do. And unfortunately, heâs in a position right now where heâs captaining the ship.â
Ek has made more strides to defend Spotifyâs payouts, having told CBS News earlier this year that the company does not pay artists directly. âArtists have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and donât know what individual deals these artists may have.â
In 2021, Spotify released a website, Loud & Clear, to provide more public insight into who is receiving payments.
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