Spotify is the most popular streaming service in the world right now, so it is natural to wonder how many artists are on the platform today. I’ve researched this topic and written about it here.
In 2023 there are 11+ million artists on Spotify with an estimated 200,000 being professional artists and only 165,000 of them with a monthly listener count of 10,000 or higher.
This information was found on Spotify’s Loud & Clear website which showcases data that they have collected on all of the artists and music that is hosted on Spotify.
How You Can Become An Artist On Spotify Too
One of the reasons that there are so many artists on Spotify is the fact that it has never been easier to upload music to Spotify.
Although Spotify does not allow artists to directly upload to their platform, it is super easy to upload to Spotify as an artist.
Instead, Spotify teams up with music distributors to act as the middleman between the artists and Spotify.
Artists simply sign up to a music distributor, upload their music and it gets distributed to streaming services and stores like Spotify and Apple Music.
This is now so easy because a company called DistroKid came along and started offering unlimited song uploads for a small annual fee without taking a percentage of any of your earnings away.
In the past, it was WAY too expensive because there were only a small handful of music distributors and you had to pay them a fee for every song you want to be distributed per year.
To learn more about why Spotify does not allow direct uploads, check out my article titled Spotify Direct Upload – Can You Upload Directly To Spotify? 🙂
How to pick a music distributor
Spotify has a preferred list of music distributors that you can work with and right at the top of that list is DistroKid.
DistroKid is actually what I use and what I would recommend to anyone looking to get their music up on Spotify.
To learn more about DistroKid and how to pick the right distributor, you can check out my big fat DistroKid review for more info. 🙂
With that said, I’ve also compared DistroKid to some other popular music distributors as well, if you would like to check out some other options:
- DistroKid vs TuneCore
- DistroKid vs CD Baby
- DistroKid vs Amuse
- DistroKid vs Ditto
- DistroKid vs UnitedMasters
- DistroKid vs SoundCloud
How You Can Claim An Official Spotify Artist Profile
After picking a music distributor and uploading your music, you can actually make things more official by claiming your Spotify artist profile.
With an official Spotify Artist Profile, you can:
- Update your profile picture, biography, and social links
- Choose an “Artist Pick” (a song, album, or playlist that shows up at the top)
- Get access to enhanced data and analytics in the Spotify For Artists dashboard
- Choose a “Fundraising Pick” (a charity or straight-to-artist donation option)
- The ability to pitch your music to Spotify editors to get on lucrative Spotify editorial playlists
There are 2 methods to claiming your Spotify artist profile:
- Through your music distributor
- Manually claiming your profile with Spotify
The easiest by far is to claim your profile through your music distributor (that is why I placed it in the #1 position hehe).
To learn how to get instant access with DistroKid, check out my article called Does DistroKid Make A Spotify Account For You?
You will find a detailed walkthrough on that page, as well as a lot more information on the overall process.
However, if you are not using DistroKid, or would like to learn how to manually claim your profile, you can check out my article called How To Claim Your Spotify Artist Profile. 🙂
How Many Artists Are Using Spotify For Artists?
There are at least 1 million users active on Spotify For Artists, the online tool that Spotify created for artists to manage their music and presence on Spotify.
In February 2021, Spotify hosted an online event called ‘Stream On’ where they mentioned that they had reached the milestone of having 1 million users on Spotify For Artists.
To learn more about how to take advantage of Spotify For Artists, check out my Spotify For Artists App & Dashboard Guide. 🙂
How To Actually Get Lots of Streams on Spotify
Spotify is awesome because they have so many different ways for artists to grow their streams and start seeing success in the world of streaming.
The Spotify artist account that you can get access to is great because it allows you to access some new features and really dig into your data.
A key feature that you get access to is the ability to pitch your music to Spotify editors.
You may already know that editorial playlists are the holy grail of playlist placement but did you know Spotify offers other types of playlists and that there is a way you can start to get the editor’s attention?
Spotify also has a growing number of algorithmic playlists and getting on any of these algorithmic or editorial playlists will significantly increase the number of streams you see.
So how do you get on these bad boys?
The honest secret is this…
Release music often.
This is exactly why I really think it is important to choose a music distributor that provides unlimited song uploads for a small fee, like DistroKid.
Otherwise, releasing lots of music can get real expensive, real quick.
How do I know this?
Simple!
I’ve done this myself by releasing my own music on a monthly basis.
At first, I started getting on some Algorithmic playlists and slowly that caught the attention of the Spotify editors.
I’ve now gotten my music on over 10 official Spotify editorial playlists and have racked up over 2 million streams.
If you want to know how I did this in detail, I put together a free course called the 6 Secrets To Spotify Success.
In this free course, I cover:
- How to get the most out of your latest release, overnight
- The exact step-by-step process of how to build a music marketing strategy required to make you sweet streams
- How to grow your Spotify streams, monthly listeners, and fans even if you’re totally new
If that sounds neat to you, then check out the 6 Secrets To Spotify Success, for more.
Otherwise, good luck on your next release, my friend! 🙂
Does Spotify Pay Their Artists?
Artists on Spotify get paid royalties every time that their song is streamed. However, the pay rate can vary and artists do not get paid right away.
The 2 main factors that impact how, when, and how much they get paid are:
- Who streamed the song
- How quickly Spotify reports the royalty statement
In addition to this, Spotify actually does not pay artists directly. Instead, artists get paid through the music distributor they used to get their music onto Spotify in the first place (more on how you can do this yourself later in this article).
To learn all about how artists get paid on Spotify, check out my article on Spotify royalties for more. 🙂
