Over PLN 150 million in royalties to Polish artists

According to “Loud & Clear,” an annual report on music royalties, Spotify released data on Polish artists’ revenues from the platform for 2023 for the first time. In total, last year they amounted to over 150 million zlotys, an increase of 20% compared to 2022.

For the past 11 years, Spotify has actively participated in the development of the Polish music industry through programs and initiatives aimed at promoting local talent both at home and abroad. Now, as the only platform publishing this type of data, Spotify presents for the first time how much Polish artists earned from streaming music.

Spotify distributes payments to music rights owners, such as labels and publishers, who then pay artists, including composers, authors and performers, based on their individual contracts. Additionally, royalties from Spotify constitute only a part of the creators’ total income, the rest comes from other streaming platforms, ticket sales to live concerts, sales of merchandise and other engagements.

In total, Polish artists generated over PLN 150,000,000 during the year, which is an increase of 20% compared to 2022. More than half of all royalties generated by Polish artists on Spotify in 2023 were obtained by independent artists or independent record labels. Since 2017, royalties generated by Polish owners of music rights from Spotify have increased by over 750%. In 2023, a total of 580 Polish artists earned over 50,000 zlotys solely from royalties from Spotify, which means an increase of 20% compared to 2022 and more than fourfold over the last five years. The number of Polish artists who earned over 100,000 zlotys exclusively from royalties from Spotify in 2023 increased by over 25% compared to 2022 and almost 5 times over the last five years.

“I am glad that for the first time we can transparently share how much revenue Polish artists generate thanks to Spotify. It’s truly inspiring to see the significant progress made in promoting Polish music both at home and abroad. This gives us energy to take further initiatives. Poland boasts an abundance of exceptional talent, and at Spotify we are committed to strengthening their presence on and off our platform around the world,” says Mateusz Smółka, Music Team Lead at Spotify.

Globally, 2023 was a record year for Spotify payments, accounting for two-thirds of the platform’s total revenue. In 2023, Spotify’s global contribution totaled $9 billion, the largest payment ever made by a single retailer. That number has nearly tripled over the past six years and represents a significant portion of the more than $48 billion that Spotify has paid out to music rights owners since its inception.

Many creators who generated at least one million dollars in royalties from Spotify in 2023 are not widely known and did not need the so-called hit to achieve great success on the platform. 80% of them did not make the Spotify Daily Global Songs Top 50 last year. In the era of streaming, charts are not extensive enough to include songs from all successful artists. Fans’ tastes are becoming more diverse and the pool of royalties is growing – which means even more revenue for a wider range of creators.

In 2023, independent artists generated nearly $4.5 billion from Spotify. 2023 was therefore the first year in which their revenues accounted for approximately half of the total amount generated by the entire music industry from Spotify. The latter amounted to $9 billion last year, i.e. over 35 billion zlotys.