Spotify has gradually released country-level data in recent weeks as part of its annual Loud & Clear music economics report, a move the company said makes it “the only streaming provider to share data on artist compensation.”
To be clear, these figures are only aggregated (Spotify won’t tell you how much money Bad Bunny made in the UK last year, for example), and the data it provides isn’t always consistent – it gives a person a set of index. Sometimes these indicators overlap, allowing for comparisons between countries, and sometimes they do not.
Still, Loud & Clear’s data does give us an insight into the dynamics of various digital music markets that those of us unfamiliar with streaming services’ confidential data analysis have never had before.
Spotify has revealed data on music streaming in Spain in its latest edition, and apparently its last national edition of the year.
One number jumps out: In 2023, Spanish artists will generate more than €123 million ($133 million Calculated at average exchange rates in 2023). This is almost four times the royalties generated by Spanish artists in 2017.
One thing to note about these numbers is that they are specifically royalties Generate on Spotifyand given Spotify’s rapid growth in its user base over the years, the substantial increase in royalties generated by Spanish artists reflects at least Spotify’s growth, but also the growth of the Spanish music market.
Despite this, the Spanish music industry posted solid growth in 2023, with revenue rising 15% annual increase According to data from Spanish industrial group Promusica. Spotify royalties grow for Spanish artists twenty four% during the same period.
Spotify royalties grow compared to EU as a whole 16% annual increase by 2023, according to a previous report by Loud & Clear.
However, Spain accounts for approximately 8.2% of 1.5 billion euros (US$1.62 billion) accounted for royalties generated by EU artists on the platform in 2023 – slightly underperforming as Spain had approx. 10.9% EU population.
Also worth noting: there are 1,300 Spanish artist who has created at least 10,000 euros Spotify’s royalties in 2023 will be more than three times what they were in 2017. 8.7% Roughly 15,000 EU artists earned more than €10,000 in royalties in 2023, again underperforming relative to the size of its population.
Spotify also reports that more than 50% Royalties generated by Spanish artists come from outside Spain. Compared to Canada, 92% Royalties generated by local artists come from abroad.
This suggests that Spain is not as good at exporting music as some other similar countries – which may be surprising given the popularity of Latin music (mostly Spanish) these days.
But the situation may yet reverse. In 2013, the Spanish artist was found to have exceeded 3.1 billion Spotify listener time. Spain outperforms on this indicator, accounting for 11.1% All EU music discovered by Spotify listeners in 2023.
(Spain’s success on this metric may also be related to some local music trends in EU countries real Local. Polish rap may be popular in Poland, but it doesn’t have much of an audience abroad.
According to Spotify, reguetón and flamenco pop are among the most popular music genres exported from Spain, although rap, trap and melodic pop also play an important role.
Finally, some 60% of royalties from independent artists or labels (vs. 65% In France).
You can view Spotify’s country-level data for the UK, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden here.
Spotify data for Brazil, Canada, France and the EU can be found here.
global music business
