Spotify and its like ‘unavoidable’: Musicians ‘hustling just to be heard’
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
A worldwide backlash against the pitiful streaming royalties from online music giant Spotify is a ‘symbolic’ gesture which most musicians could not afford to make, a local musician says. .
In September, some of New Zealand’s top musicians, including Tiki Taane and The Bats, made the decision to exit Spotify, joining others in signing the Boycott Spotify NZ statement, refusing “to be exploited” any longer.
Multiple online sources claimed Spotify offered between 0.3 and 0.5 cents per stream, with songs unable to generate revenue until reaching more than 1000 streams.
Conversely, Spotify reported revenue of more than NZ$8.2 billion in its latest report, with 696 million monthly active users and 276 million subscribers.
Masterton musician Ryan Coles, whose profile had attracted more than 100 million views, knows first-hand the realities of the online music industry and the challenges of making a living from it.
The Dead Zephyrs musician, otherwise known as BB Malloy for his 6 Degrees of Separation online content, said he would love to make every career decision based on ethics, but the truth was most musicians couldn’t afford to.
“We were hustling just to be heard,” he said.
Coles said he respected musicians who pulled out of Spotify, calling it a “symbolic” act, but in practice it made it harder for fans to discover their music.
“I’d rather be in the room and use Spotify as a doorway to merch, tickets, or Bandcamp, where the money’s real.”
He said the system itself was like playing the pokies, with a few big winners while the rest were feeding in coins for crumbs.
“I’ve seen the royalty statements, and they’re barely enough to buy a pie and a coffee.
“Spotify might be paying billions overall, but it doesn’t trickle down in any meaningful way to indie artists in New Zealand.”
Other concerns from New Zealand artists that joined the boycott included Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek investing €600 million (NZ$1.2b) in a German military technology company called Helsing.
Through his investment fund Prima Materia, Daniel Ek backed Helsing, whose technology had reportedly been in use in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, as revealed in June.
Coles was not supportive of Spotify’s CEO investing in military AI, however, he said he did not have the “luxury” to think about it every time he uploaded a track.
“I just want people to hear the songs.”
Coles said he had also experienced challenges with getting music out on mainstream radio.
“Mainstream stations only care if you're viral on TikTok like Benee or Lorde. Buying a T-shirt, a record, or a ticket to a show, is the actual support.
“That’s the difference between me saying ‘thanks for the stream’ and me being able to put food on the table.
“Fans should know their choices matter a lot more than they think. Showing up for your favourite local band means more than streams ever could.”
Coles said Spotify and its rivals, like Apple Music, TIDAL, YouTube, and the online music distribution platform Bandcamp, were unavoidable.
They had too much of the market share, he said.
“The future probably isn’t about ditching Spotify completely as much as it seems very heroic to do it at this point.
“We can't all buy a bunch of ad space.”
The platform’s use of music created by AI bands and reported “ghost artist” schemes, which decreased the money paid to real artists, had also come under public scrutiny.