Simon Frith
Sociologist of music at the University of Edinburgh, specializing in the music industry, popular music, and the economics of cultural production.
March 17, 2026·8 min read
The Streaming Paradox
Streaming has transformed how we listen to music, making virtually all recorded music available for a monthly subscription fee. But the economics of streaming are brutal for most musicians: Spotify pays approximately $0.003-0.005 per stream, meaning a million streams earns about $3,000-5,000. The streaming revolution has been great for listeners and terrible for most artists.
TOPICS
musicstreamingSpotifymusic industrydigital economy

