Spotify Will Demonetize Songs Below 1000 Streams From 2024

While changing the rules of a game that has been for 15 years is bound to have its winners, losers, or unforeseen consequences; 1000 streams over 12 months (80+ streams monthly) is not unattainable.

Taylor Swift Streaming Data on X: "Taylor Swift continues to increase her monthly listeners on Spotify. She reaches a new peak with 77.15m listeners (+800k from yesterday's update) *She's less than 2m

Welcome to a new dispensation 🎉

Starting from January 2024, songs on Spotify will need to be streamed at least 1,000 times before they can start earning money. This signifies a major shift in Spotify's royalty model in its 15-year history.

You may have caught a glimpse of this new policy in an earlier piece. This move is designed to address the issue of many tracks that currently earn less than five cents per month, potentially comprising songs that receive about 200 plays.

The new policy aims to ensure a fairer distribution of revenue for career artists and their creative work. By implementing this new payout model, Spotify expects to redistribute approximately $40 million that would have previously been allocated to songs with fewer than 1000 streams towards those with a higher stream count.

The development has sparked a range of mixed reactions, and I can understand why. Changing the rules of a game that has been for 15 years is bound to have its winners, losers, or unforeseen consequences. However, from my current standing, I don’t see anything wrong with this. 

Google, through its platform YouTube, has run a similar model since time, and it has worked just fine. So, the concerns against these changes may not be entirely justified.

Considering that achieving 1000 streams over a 12-month period averages to about 80+ streams per month, it's hard to see how this threshold hurts actual career artists.