Profiled last December in Digital Music News, independent singer/songwriter Ron Pope used Huffington Post this week to reveal details of his popularity and revenue on Spotify. Pope’s disclosures add a fresh dimension to the “Spotify debate,” and are causing some buzz among musicians.
The bullet points of Ron Pope’s success in Spotify cover a three-year period from 2010 to 2013. During that time Pope’s tracks have been played 57-million times, and he has earned about $335,000 in Spotify royalties. In 2013, Spotify paid Ron Pope $200,000. He cites Spotify as his second-highest income source. He earns more money from download sales through iTunes. Live-performance income is fourth on his list.
The canon of anti-Spotify (and, more generally, anti-streaming) arguments is that royalty payments are unsustainably low, and musicians intending to make a living must get their money from touring and merchandise sales. Ron Pope’s experience turns that equation on its head. His Spotify profile indicates and nearly half of the 57-million streams are concentrated in one song, and nearly all of his activity is in 10 songs.
The level of engagement is unusual. Consider Arcade Fire, a much more celebrated indie act with major press and television exposure: the band’s top 10 songs on Spotify have garnered about 40-million streams. At the other end of the spectrum, superstar Bruno Mars has tallied about 450-million plays of his top 10 songs.
Ron Pope’s story seems to emblemize an ideal online-music success story: an Internet star who is not a household name and doesn’t need to be, who earns good money during a period of industry disruption thanks to a highly engaged fan base buying into the act through both downloads and streams.
I would like to know how Ron does this ?
Pandora and Spotify do not pay us for our artists plays! And we have over 80 Albums on both streams. However we receive good revenue from cdBaby and iTunes. And we have been trying for three years now to get paid from Sound Exchange.
Dave Kaspersin,
Dynamic Recording Indie Label.
“anti-streaming arguments is that royalty payments are unsustainably low, and musicians intending to make a living must get their money from touring and merchandise sales”
In my 34 years in the music industry and broadcasting, “TNT” or touring n’ t-shirts have always been where artists make their money. Hardly any make any decent money on sales….. the labels always grab that.