How to get your music on Spotify, and how much it pays
A key question we get asked by independent artists is, “How can I get my music onto Spotify?” It’s actually pretty easy and inexpensive to do that. And the next question is, “How much will I earn?” The amount that artists receive from Spotify is a hot topic, of interest to artists and fans alike. The short answer to the question is, “Not a lot,” but earnings aren’t everything when it comes to receiving the wide exposure that Spotify availability can generate.
Ditto Music is a service that allows artists to set up their own record label and release their music via digital stores and streaming services. Basic charges are 30p per track per store or service, and £5.00 for track storage, plus extra charges for services such as chart registration. So it’s possible to get your track available on Spotify for £5.30, or on iTunes and Spotify for £5.60. But how much will you earn?
The company is pretty upfront about potential earnings. Download stores take around a 40% commission, so a track sold for 79p via iTunes should earn the artist 49p.
For Spotify, the artist earns 0.02p per play. That means you’ll need 50 plays to earn 1p, 5,000 plays to earn £1, or half a million plays to earn £100. You’ll also get a percentage of advertising revenue, but we can safely assume that this will be even more negligible than play royalties.
Of course, that amount just represents Ditto Music’s deal. Other companies will have individual deals and receive differing amounts. Last September, Robert Fripp, the former King Crimson guitarist, revealed in his online diary that Island Records received £1.68 from Spotify for 618 streams. That’s 0.2p per play – ten times the amount Ditto Music artists receive, although obviously Island artists will need to give their label a cut of that.
It’s still not a large amount, and certainly not enough for Robert Fripp – King Crimson’s tracks have since been removed. You really need to be the likes of The Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga, with your tracks being streamed millions of times, to earn significant money from Spotify.
But, as we’ve said here before, the way to make money from Spotify is not by relying on royalties, but by using it as a promotional tool to encourage physical sales, including merchandise and tickets. Readers of this blog post who might have been prompted to check out King Crimson on Spotify, and perhaps go on to buy the albums, cannot do so. They can, however, check out The Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga.
Releasing your music on Spotify via Ditto Music won’t make you a millionaire, but it will get you music out there, maybe get it heard, and that’s a valuable starting point for any artist.
I think you got the Maths wrong. 5000 plays means you get GBP 100, not GBP 1.00.
If your in a band and want to get your music onto Spotify then check out RouteNote (http://routenote.com). They are already the leaders in the UK for digital music distribution.
Hi Steven, 5,000 plays @ 0.02p each is 100p, or £1.
Ditto were great for our band, thoroughly recommend them.
Never heard of Routenote, doesnt seem like their maths is very good tbh
Im not really too sure, but I thought 5,000 plays time 2p = 10,000p
Is that right?
10,000p = $100.00
Steven,
It’s 0.02 of a penny. Therefore a song has to be played 50 times to earn a penny.
The original math is correct.
Hope this helps.
@Steven Finch
Steven,
It’s 0.02 of a penny. Therefore a song has to be played 50 times to earn a penny.
The original math is correct.
Hope this helps.
Steven , Spotify pay outs are 0.0002 pence per stream.
It does not fill me with confidence for the company you are plugging if you are confused about how money you are supposed to be paying out to people.
And its not good sport to come here plugging your business when this is an article about Ditto. I have heard of and worked with Ditto , but have never heard of yourselves, so to claim market leadership is a tad facetious.
I used the method from http://www.synthesizers.se/2009/07/23/how-to-get-your-music-on-itunes-and-spotify-for-free/ . Worked out for me..
Hey guys,
Here is another option for you: http;//wwww.recordunion.com
We are offering distribution to Spotify for free.
cheerio!
/Fredrik
http://www.behyped.com/2971/how-to-get-your-music-on-spotify-a-us-update/
A slightly more comprehensive overview of routes onto Spotify.
I hate/suck at math..
This is not original, but I think it’s appropriate:
“An artist’s biggest problem is not theft [or 3rd world wages]. It’s obscurity.”
Get it out there!
Be warned though, that if you use any of these online ‘publishing’ companies to get your music on these premium platforms such as Spotify, ALWAYS read the terms and conditions as the majority of them (if not all)demand you allow them exclusive rights to sell your music wherever they see fit elsewhere.
This includes the aforementioned http://www.recordunion.com
@Steven Finch
Hi Steven, afraid it is 0.02p per play, not £0.02 (2p)per stream – terrible, isn’t it?!
@Steven Finch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2isSJKntbg
Exactly the same math.
I already have my music on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Do I still have to pay more money to get it published to Spotify?
Please help!
You can put your music onto Spotify for free using Spotmeup. They dont pay for streams but pays 100% for downloads.
http://www.spotmeup.com/
No, You dont. Go to http://www.uploadmymusiconspotifyforfree.com and follow the instructions.
It’s totally for free. All you gotta do is to tell them to upload only on Spotify, as you already have your songs on iTunes and Amazon etc.
Hope this helped you out!
@Brad Rip
Hey guys!
I think this can site helps out alot when it comes to uploading to Spotify.
It’s totally for free and it’s easy.
http://www.uploadmymusiconspotifyforfree.com
Have a good one!
/ A
CD Baby also delivers to Spotify and they have a Facebook Music Store that’s free.
http://members.cdbaby.com/get-on-spotify.aspx
CM
Well this just goes to show (me at least) that the who;e thing is a big red herring! Something i think is REALLY important to remember for up-and-coming artists is to stay true to the music! DO NOT let desperation push you into getting your music out there by any means necessary. If your music is truly good, people will find it.
If you’re looking for a get-rich-quick scheme please, please get out of the music business! We don’t need anymore of this garbage!
If we were more united and organized as a community of musicians, maybe we could take more control of our music. Until then, the scumbags will be waiting (and salivating) for you desperate people to come along and take the bait!
I want to thoroughly discourage anyone from ever using DittoMusic. I paid them nearly 7 weeks ago to upload my music to their various services. I was waiting to start promoting the new record until I was sure people could find it on iTunes and Spotify. 4 weeks in I was getting really impatient so I emailed the company; about 5 days later I got a perfunctory “oh sorry something must have happened we’ll look into it” message.
It’s been nearly 50 days since I paid my money; I’ve heard nothing back, I’ve tried their “live chat” but no one responded, left a phone message and no one responded, and finally emailed asking for a refund a few days ago and no one responded.
I don’t mind being out $51.25 so much as I hate that I’ve wasted 6 weeks waiting for something which never happened so now I have to try other avenues to get my music up which will take even more time.
STAY AWAY FROM DITTO!
Hi Paul
I am sorry to hear that. Unfortunately we get a lot of rival distributors post comments pretending to be customers so it would be great if you post your artist name and release title.
That way we will know that its geniune and look into exactly what has happened.
Lee Parsons
Ditto music