158 million tracks: Only 1,000 plays on streaming services

Last year, a staggering 158 million tracks on music streaming services garnered a mere 1,000 plays or fewer, with an additional 45 million tracks receiving absolutely no plays at all. This surge in the volume of tracks has sparked concerns in the music industry, particularly regarding the potential dilution of royalties for professional and popular artists under the pro-rata royalty system. The fear is that payments are dispersed thinly across low-quality tracks, and the influx of around 120,000 new tracks uploaded daily could overshadow high-quality artists.

In response to these worries, major streaming platforms, such as Spotify, have revised their policies. Starting in the first quarter of 2024, Spotify will cease royalty payments for tracks that accumulate fewer than 1,000 plays within the previous 12 months on its platform. This decision seems to align with the ‘artist-centric‘ approach adopted by Universal Music Group.

According to a recent report from market monitor Luminate, a staggering 82.7% of the 184 million measured tracks, totaling 152.2 million, received 1,000 plays or fewer on audio streaming services in 2023. Furthermore, a significant 24.8% of the total tracks, equating to 45.6 million, received zero plays in the same year. This implies that nearly a quarter of the entire music catalog available on streaming services remained untouched in 2023. Luminate‘s previous report in 2022 indicated around 38 million tracks with zero plays, marking a 20% year-on-year increase in 2023.

Digging deeper, the analysis reveals that 43% of all available tracks, totaling 79.5 million, received 10 plays or fewer on audio streaming services in 2023. This data underscores the industry’s shift toward ‘artist-centric‘ payment models on audio streaming services, aiming to prioritize artists with larger streams and diminish the financial impact of unpopular tracks earning minimal royalties annually.