Fewer DIY Musicians earned $10K+ on Spotify last year than year before

57,000 artists will earn over $10,000 annually on Spotify in 2022. The streamer proudly shared at a recent Stream On Event that he’s up 8.3% from 2021. It was also the first year that 10,000 artists each earned over $100,000 on the platform.

But a closer look at Spotify’s own data reveals a different story for DIY artists who use self-service platforms like CD Baby, TuneCore and DistroKid to distribute their music.

Not part of an 8.3% increase, the number of DIY musicians making $10,000 or more a year from Spotify has dropped about 3% from 15,140 in 2021 to 14,700 last year.

MBW’s Tim Ingham spotted the decline during his usual deep dive into Spotify’s annual Loud & Clear report released alongside Stream On.

What does this mean for DIY musicians?

It’s an impressive addition to the Spotify For Artists toolkit and despite CEO Daniel Ek’s initial promise to help “one million creators make a living on Spotify,” for DIY musicians on the platform. Things seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

The decline of DIY can also be seen as pricking recent claims by label bosses that too much music is stealing royalties and attention from contracted artists.

In short, it’s easier than ever to record and distribute music, but it’s harder than ever to make a living out of it.

Bruce Horton Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, Senior Advisor to Bandsintown, President of Skyline Artists Agency, and Professor at Berklee College of Music.