Welsh band shares streaming royalty data highlighting low Spotify pay-outs

29 déc 2025 - 09:59

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Welsh indie rock band Los Campesinos! have publicly disclosed detailed streaming royalty figures from their 2024 album All Hell, offering a rare insight into the scale of per-stream pay-outs for independent artists and highlighting significant disparities between major digital platforms.

Welsh band Los Campesinos!

The band released the data following widespread sharing of Spotify Wrapped statistics on social media in 2025. They said the decision was intended to present transparent information rather than to encourage fans to stop using streaming services.

All Hell is the only album in the band’s catalogue for which they retain full worldwide rights, allowing them to assess earnings without the involvement of record labels or intermediaries. According to the figures, the album generated approximately £31 940 (about $37 600) in streaming income from 9.3 million streams over 12 months, equating to about £1 for every 294 streams, or roughly 0.34p per stream across all digital service providers combined.

Spotify accounted for almost 75% of the album’s total streams and £20 428.50 of the revenue. Apple Music was the second-largest source, generating £6 496.50 from nearly 1.4 million streams, with an effective per-stream pay-out of around 0.47p.

The band’s analysis showed that Apple Music’s per-stream pay-outs were approximately 62% higher than Spotify’s. Platforms such as Amazon Music and Tidal recorded even higher rates. Los Campesinos! estimated that if all Spotify streams of All Hell had instead occurred on Tidal, their income for the period would have increased by £31 847.38, effectively doubling their streaming revenue. A shift to Apple Music alone would have added an estimated £12 331.

“Spotify is not doing anything to help any of us, unless you’re in the top 1% of major label artists,” Gareth David, founder of Los Campesinos!, told The Times.

Both Spotify and Apple Music operate a pro-rata royalty distribution model. However, the band noted that Apple Music’s royalty pool is not diluted by ad-supported, subscription-free listeners, which contributes to the higher effective pay-out per stream.

Los Campesinos! said they released the data to allow fans and industry observers to draw their own conclusions about streaming economics, particularly for working independent artists with successful but non-mainstream releases.