The Truth About Spotify Payments (ft. Jesse Jacobsen - Label Partnerships @ Spotify)

Spotify paid out $11 billion to the music industry in 2025... but what does this actually mean, and how do the payouts work? And how much is going to independent artists? In this episode, I sit down with Jesse Jacobsen, who leads East Coast Label Partnerships at Spotify, to break down how streaming royalties really work. We talk through Spotify’s latest Loud & Clear report and get into how artists generate revenue on the platform, and why the system can be misunderstood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices