The Swedish music streaming platform’s latest Canadian economic report says they collectively raised nearly $460 million in royalties in 2024. (The Logic)

Talking point: The company can’t say how much of that revenue reaches artists themselves, since many have their own contracts with labels and distributors. In 2024 Spotify changed its royalty policy to only pay for tracks that had at least 1,000 listens, after previously paying about 3 cents per month. Some artists say they struggle to earn substantial pay from the service, even with popular songs. The music-streaming service says 92 per cent of royalties for Canadian songs were generated by listeners outside of Canada. That kind of reach would have been “very, very difficult,” in the CD era, the company’s head of artist and industry partnerships, Bryan Johnson, said at a briefing. The company increased the cost of a subscription in Canada last year after the federal government required foreign streaming services to contribute to a fund that supports the creation of Canadian content.