Spotify paid record $10 billion to artists last year

STORY: Spotify says it paid a record $10 billion in royalties to artists in 2024.

The streaming giant said that was the largest ever payout to the music industry in a single year.

Of that total, nearly 1,500 artists earned over $1 million in royalties.

The Swedish firm said its payouts had risen ten times from just $1 billion in 2014.

Last year, Spotify was hit with a U.S. lawsuit accusing it of underpaying songwriting royalties for tens of millions of songs.

A federal judge in New York then ruled to dismiss that suit this year.

Spotify recently signed multi-year deals with major labels including Warner Music and Universal Music.

Chief Executive Daniel Ek said the company would introduce personalised offerings, including a premium tier called “superfans of music”.

The firm forecast it would hit 678 million monthly active users over the first quarter.