How did we get here?

To understand why Spotify has become such a dominant force in music, it's worth rewinding a little.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Napster and LimeWire helped turn the music industry upside down.

Suddenly, millions of people could download songs without paying for them.

And yes, I'll hold my hands up. I did it too.

Although I continued buying CDs, I also discovered the questionable delights of downloading MP3s that occasionally turned out to be something entirely different from what I'd requested.

The music industry wasn't particularly thrilled about any of this.

Then Apple came along with iTunes and offered a legal alternative. Instead of buying an entire album, you could buy individual tracks and download them.

That was revolutionary in itself.

But streaming took the idea even further.

Why buy one song when you could have access to millions for a monthly subscription?

Spotify launched, other services followed, and gradually the way we listened to music changed.

For listeners, it was brilliant.

For musicians, things became a little more complicated

The problem isn't streaming.

It's what musicians expect from it.

According to the IFPI's Global Music Report 2026, streaming accounted for 69.6% of worldwide recorded music revenue in 2025.

That's an enormous amount of money.

But here's the important bit.

Just because the music industry is making billions from streaming doesn't mean your music is going to make you a fortune.

And it certainly doesn't mean that getting lots of streams will automatically build you a sustainable career.

There are millions of songs competing for attention.

Your latest release might appear on somebody's playlist, get played a few times and disappear into the great musical abyss.

You might never know who listened.

And they might never think about you again.

Which is a bit depressing when you've spent months writing, recording and producing something you're incredibly proud of.

Streams don't necessarily mean fans

Imagine you've just released a new single.

It gets picked up by a playlist and suddenly you're seeing thousands of streams.

Brilliant.

But what happens next?

Do those listeners know your name?

Have they followed you anywhere?

Would they recognise another of your songs?

Would they buy a ticket to see you perform?

Would they even notice if you released something new next Friday?

If the answer to most of those questions is no, then you've got listeners, but you haven't necessarily got fans.

And that's an important distinction.

I'm not suggesting streaming listeners are somehow less valuable. Plenty of genuine fans listen exclusively through Spotify.

But a stream tells you somebody listened. It doesn't tell you how much they care.

And caring is what makes people stick around.

It's something I've explored in more detail in How to Turn Your Followers Into Fans, because attracting someone's attention and building a relationship with them are two very different things.

The uncomfortable truth about streaming royalties

Then there's the money.

Spotify doesn't pay artists a fixed amount every time somebody listens to a song. Its recording royalty system works by distributing a pool of revenue according to the share of eligible streams.

How much an artist eventually receives depends on their agreements with labels, distributors and other rights holders.

And since April 2024, Spotify has required tracks to achieve at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months,

alongside a minimum number of unique listeners, to qualify for recorded music royalties.

That doesn't mean every streaming service has the same rule, and it doesn't affect publishing royalties in the same way. But it does underline something important.

For many emerging artists, streaming income alone isn't going to pay the bills.

Of course, if you're generating millions of streams, that's a different conversation.

But most independent musicians aren't.

And that's why I'd be careful about making Spotify the centre of your entire marketing strategy.

Meanwhile...

...something rather interesting is happening to physical music.

Remember when everyone said vinyl was dead?

Well, somebody forgot to tell the people buying it.

According to the BPI's latest UK recorded music figures, UK vinyl revenue grew by 19.9% in 2025, while physical music revenue overall increased by 12.8%.

Globally, physical recorded music revenue grew by 8%, according to the IFPI.

And I find that fascinating.

Because while streaming gives us convenience, physical music offers something different.

Ownership.

Something tangible.

Something to put on a shelf, collect, give as a present or proudly show off.

And for musicians, it offers another way for people to support what they do.

But I don't think the lesson here is that every independent artist should immediately order 500 vinyl albums.

Please don't do that just because I mentioned it. I don't want an angry email when your spare bedroom disappears beneath boxes of unsold records.

The real lesson is that fans are often willing to support artists in ways that go beyond pressing play.

That might mean buying vinyl.

It might mean merchandise.

It might mean coming to a gig, joining a membership or supporting a crowdfunding campaign.

And for some fans, it might simply mean listening to everything you release and telling their friends about you.

All of those things matter.

Stop treating Spotify as the finish line

This is where I think independent musicians need to change their thinking.

Rather than asking, "How do I get more streams?", try asking:

"How do I turn the people who discover my music into people who want to hear more from me?"

It's a subtle change, but it can completely alter how you approach your marketing.

Spotify can be an important part of that journey.

Somebody discovers your song through a playlist, an algorithmic recommendation or a friend sharing a link.

Lovely.

But what reason have you given them to take the next step?

Can they find you on social media?

Is there something interesting to discover when they get there?

Can they learn about the person behind the music?

Is there a mailing list they can join?

Are you giving them reasons to come back between releases?

Because if the only thing you're doing is repeatedly telling people to stream your latest single, you're missing an opportunity.

This is where video comes in

And no, I'm not about to tell you that every musician needs to spend thousands of pounds making a music video.

Although I do happen to know a bloke who makes them.

The point is that music isn't the only interesting thing about a musician.

There's the story behind a song.

The personality behind the performance.

The things that inspire you, frustrate you, make you laugh or make you different from every other artist fighting for attention.

Video is a brilliant way to share those things.

A live performance can demonstrate what you're capable of.

A music video can bring a song to life.

A behind-the-scenes clip can show people how something was made.

A simple conversation to camera can help somebody feel as though they're getting to know you.

And none of those things needs to involve a huge production.

What matters is giving people more reasons to connect with you.

I've written more about this in Why Musicians Need to Be More Than Their Music, particularly why showing different sides of yourself can be just as important as showing people what you sound like.

Because somebody who likes your music might listen once.

Somebody who likes your music and feels connected to you is much more likely to stick around.

Build an audience you can actually reach

There's another problem with relying entirely on streaming platforms.

You don't control how you reach the people listening to your music.

Spotify might recommend your latest release to someone, but you can't simply send every listener a personal invitation to your next gig.

The same problem exists with social media.

You can build a sizeable following and still find that only a fraction of those people see what you post.

That's why I'm a big believer in encouraging musicians to build direct relationships with their audiences.

A mailing list is an obvious example.

It might not sound particularly glamorous compared with a million Spotify streams, but having a few hundred people who've actively asked to hear from you can be enormously valuable.

You can tell them about a new release, offer early access to tickets or share something they won't find anywhere else.

And, crucially, you're not entirely dependent on an algorithm deciding whether they should see it.

Of course, you still have to give them something worth opening.

Nobody wants another email that simply says, "STREAM MY NEW SINGLE" in increasingly large capital letters.

So should you stop worrying about Spotify?

Not entirely.

I'd still encourage musicians to release their music on streaming platforms, pitch to relevant playlists and make it as easy as possible for people to discover their songs.

But I wouldn't judge the success of an entire music career by a streaming dashboard.

I'd be asking different questions.

Are more people coming to your gigs?

Are they returning for the next release?

Are they signing up to hear from you?

Are they buying your music or merchandise?

Are they telling other people about you?

And, perhaps most importantly, are you building something that can continue growing even when you're not releasing a new song?

Because that's where the real opportunity lies.

Streams are lovely. Fans are better.

I don't think Spotify is the enemy.

It's an extraordinary platform that has changed how the world listens to music, and it can help independent artists reach people they might never have reached otherwise.

But I do think musicians can become far too obsessed with the numbers.

A thousand streams might look impressive on a dashboard.

But a hundred people who genuinely care about your music, turn up to your shows and look forward to your next release?

That's something worth building on.

So by all means, keep putting your music on Spotify.

Just remember that getting somebody to press play is only the beginning.



The real challenge is giving them a reason to come back.