When it comes to streaming media, few platforms are as ubiquitous as Spotify. That, in turn, has led to frequent debates over the service’s system for paying artists — and what effect that has had on the larger musical ecosystem. Sometimes, there’s an example that’s so salient it simply snaps into focus, and one such example involves the pop singer Lily Allen. Earlier this year, Allen announced the debut of an OnlyFans account featuring photos of her feet.
As it turns out, she makes more money from that than she has from her music streaming on Spotify. And if that makes your brain start to melt, you’re not alone. Allen herself seems a little unsettled by it. When she mentioned her foot photos, one Twitter/X user criticized her for “being reduced to this.” Allen was having none of it.
“[I]magine being and [sic] artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet,” she responded. “[D]on’t hate the player, hate the game.”
Again, we’re not talking about an obscure artist here. According to her Spotify page, Allen gets 7.4 million listeners on the service per month. (By comparison, The National have 4.3 million listeners. It’s unclear if they, too, have explored putting foot photos online.) Either people are paying a significant premium to look at photos of Allen’s feet or Spotify isn’t doing right by significantly popular artists.
Is Spotify’s Discovery Mode Screwing Over Artists?
The Future of Music Coalition slammed Spotify for its Discovery Mode tool, which may lower royalty rates to algorithmically boosted songsThen again, Spotify’s influence on music and musicians has been well-documented already. Last November, musician and author Damon Krukowski spoke out against a change in how Spotify would begin paying royalties. “The damage that Spotify is doing to the music ecosystem is well known,” Krukowski wrote. “But it seems they are only getting started.” And if all of the number-crunching and think pieces don’t stick with you, maybe Allen’s foot photos/streaming revenue comparison will.
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