The Mobile App Daily website has published a fascinating in-depth analysis of the key Spotify statistics driving music streaming adoption in 2021. In the article, writer Aparna Kaushik looks into the history of the company and reviews the strategies and revenue models it has used to achieve market leadership. A number of interesting figures are shared including:

• The app has 232 million listeners across the globe
• Approximately 110 million of these are paid subscribers
• It pays between $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream

The conclusion of the piece however provides perhaps little comfort for music creators. It correctly observes that the objective of every songwriter is to get their music heard. And while the huge reach that digital streaming services such as Spotify bring is invaluable, the parallel objective of making a fair livelihood is far from being realised.

it’s important not to conflate the roles of artist and songwriter when quantifying the true challenges that streaming payouts create for non-touring writers. Remembering that the streaming service is just one part of a long and often opaque music value chain is also essential to understanding this from the creators’ perspective.

Read more at www.mobileappdaily.com/spotify-stats-in-depth.

(This article was written for and originally published at Fair Trade Music International.)