Spotify paid $10 billion to the music industry last year, with $4.5 billion to publishers across 2023-24. So why are songwriters still struggling?

Spotify announced in late January that it had paid out a record $10 billion US in royalties in 2024, the largest payout to the music industry in a single year. This amounts to a tenfold jump from $1 billion US in 2014.

The music-streaming giant has long been the target of criticism from artists about paltry payments, but said it doled out record royalties last year.