Duetti's Inaugural 2023 Music Economics Report Finds Spotify's Dominant Market Position Brings Down Industry-Wide Streaming Rates For Independent Artists

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Dec 12, 2023, 09:00 ET

A vital tool for independent artists, the report further uncovers major disparities in royalty payouts by genre, YouTube's growing impact, and more

Spotify is paying independent artists 8% less in 2023 vs last year on a per stream basis - unlike Apple, YouTube, and Amazon, who all increased their payout rates
Independent Latin artists make nearly 70% less per stream than Country artists
Independent artists need 5,000,000 streams annually in order to make the US federal minimum wage

NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Duetti, a music financing startup, has announced the release of its inaugural 2023 Music Economics Report for Independent Artists. The quantitative analysis draws from millions of data points pulled from proprietary data sets in conjunction with publicly available resources to analyze the complex streaming landscape.

The report offers invaluable perspectives for artists and their teams, uncovering the impact of DSP price increases on per stream rates, measuring platform performance across various geographic regions and genres, and identifying areas where artists may experience revenue loss.

Key takeaways from the inaugural report include:

1. Earnings per stream are down by 2% in 2023 despite price increases by the streaming platforms - independent artists make $2.95 per 1,000 streams

The decline is driven by Spotify (whereby per stream rates are down by 8% in 2023), due to expansion in lower-cost markets, reliance on discounted plans (e.g., Family or Duo plans), and proliferation of Discovery Mode
Spotify's payout rate decline outweighs the positive contribution of the industry's subscription price increases in 2022 and 2023, which lead to increased payout rates by Apple, YouTube and Amazon.
Independent artists need to generate 5,000,000 streams annually in order to make the US federal minimum wage

2. For US & UK artists, YouTube is more important than ever

YouTube and Apple Music have grown their wallet share for independent artists at the expense of Spotify - but Spotify remains the most important platform in terms of wallet share (by far) with 55%
The top 4 platforms (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon) generate 96% of income for independent artists
1,000 TikTok video creations generate just 50 cents for independent artists, almost 13 times less than 1,000 streams on Apple Music

3. Streaming income varies greatly by genre

While independent Country artists make $3.5 per 1,000 streams, independent Latin artists make only $1.1 (nearly 70% less)
Variation in streaming rates is driven by different platform and country mix of audiences across genres
Spotify's genre-based wallet share varies: from as low as 38% for Country artists to as high as 66% for Rock.
Apple particularly over-indexes in Jazz, Country, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Christian, while YouTube over-indexes in Latin, Hip-Hop, and R&B

4. 5 markets generate 80% of income for US artists

Alongside the US (59% wallet share), the other major 4 countries for US artists are the UK (9%), Germany (5%), Canada (4%) and Australia (4%)
Platform wallet-share varies by country for independent artists, with Spotify much stronger in the UK versus the US, for example (on a relative basis)

5. The average independent artist spends 26% of income on distribution fees (unless they choose to go fully DIY)

This year, Latin and Country artists paid the highest distribution fees
Fees surpass 20% across all genres, indicating industry-wide reliance on advances and other services, which usually require a distribution fee above 15%

"One of the biggest challenges we see facing independent artists is the inability to make informed financial decisions due to incomplete data and unclear statements stemming from an industry with a longstanding history of opaque and overly complex finances," says Lior Tibon, CEO and co-founder of Duetti. "This report arms independent artists with the right data to have more informed conversations regarding streaming economics, better navigate their finances, and maximize their success in a streaming-first industry."

Since its inception, Duetti has become an essential business tool for hundreds of independent artists, leveling the playing field by opening up catalog sales to a wider group of artists and adding millions of dollars to the mix to fuel their creative endeavors. Duetti isn't just an investor; it's a guide for savvy decisions in the ever-changing financial currents of the music industry. To date, Duetti's facilitation of music rights acquisitions has seen artists receive upwards of seven figures per deal.

The Duetti Inaugural End-of-Year Music Economics Report for Independent Artists is now available at duetti.co/press

About Duetti
Duetti was founded by Lior Tibon, former COO of TIDAL, and Christopher Nolte, former Business Development executive at Apple Music, with the mission of getting a wide range of artists quick and easy access to catalog sales and unlocking new investment opportunities. Leveraging their experience in streaming and support from music and tech's most innovative investors including Viola Ventures and Roc Nation, Duetti's music financing platform has helped hundreds of artists receive upwards of seven figures for their catalog and single-track masters. The unique model provides data-driven prices for established tracks, allowing artists to sell individual tracks or even parts thereof, while Duetti then markets those tracks going forward using unique ROI-focused techniques.

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