Apple Music told artists it’s paying a penny per stream in a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The announcement, made in a letter to artists delivered through the service’s artist dashboard Friday and sent to labels and publishers, is part of a growing effort by music streaming services to demonstrate that they are artist-friendly. For Apple Inc. it can be seen as a response to Spotify Technology SA, which last month shared some details on how it pays the music industry for streams on its service.
Apple’s penny-per-stream payment structure – which, according to music industry experts, could go down – is about double what Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming service, pays music rights holders per stream. Spotify pays on average about a third to a half cent per stream, although the larger user base generates many more streams. Apple’s payments come from users’ monthly subscription income.
Artists, executives and lawyers, still reeling from the loss of touring income during the pandemic, have called for higher payouts for music streaming, which has grown rapidly over the past year. Many fans have joined the effort to increase artist compensation.
Apple last reported more than 60 million music subscribers in June 2019. Spotify leads the industry in subscriptions with 155 million, out of a total of 345 million active users, including those who listen to the ad-supported tier for free. Amazon said early last year that its music subscription offering had 55 million subscribers.