This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Digital
Spotify UK’s 2012 accounts published, Imagine Dragons discuss royalties
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 15 November 2013
Spotify’s UK company has published its accounts for 2012, showing revenues of £92.6 million, a 4.1% drop year-on-year.
However, before everyone starts shouting “I told you so”, Music Ally notes that the company has a pretty good explanation for this. Until May 2011, all Spotify’s worldwide subscriptions were handled by the UK subsidiary. Since then, payments have been managed by the relevant local offices, meaning the UK branch now only accounts for British subscriptions.
In which case, only registering a 4.1% drop in revenues looks pretty good – even though Music Ally reckons that Spotify UK accounted for over 25% of the company’s worldwide revenues last year.
Of course, the majority of those revenues were paid out to record companies and music publishers in royalties, though is the streaming service yet paying the rights owners and content creators enough? Well, as we know, some artists reckon not, and those artists have generally been the most vocal on this topic of late. Though another pro-Spotify singer has been speaking this week, to even things up a bit.
Speaking to Music Week, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds said of Spotify: “Have I seen [significant] money from it? No. I’m sure something’s coming in, and that [long-term royalty build-up] takes time… but I don’t think any artist out there feels like they’re even making tonnes of money from iTunes or record sales. All sales of [recorded] music have gone down the drain. That’s not where an artist is making their money. An artist is making their money at the live shows. And live shows mean everything to us – that’s what we put all our time and our money back into. They’re why we got into music in the first place”.
He added: “It’s a changing industry. I’m not saying I know for a fact that [streaming] will be the future of the industry, but I wouldn’t say I’m adamantly against it … These [platforms] – YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, whatever – are all mediums to bring people out to your show. Your music is something to give to someone like you would an invitation to come to your art studio. Does this interest you? Great, then come out to a live show and see what we’re really about”.
