Los Campesinos!โ Detail Streaming Revenueโ Disparities, Revealingโค TIDAL Pays Considerably Moreโ Than Spotify
Indie-pop band Los campesinos! have publicly disclosed their 2025โข streaming revenue, exposing a stark contrast in โpayoutsโ between platforms and highlighting the financial challenges facing artists in the digital music landscape. The Welshโ collective revealed that TIDALโข generated substantially more income per stream thanโ industry leader Spotify,a revelation that underscores ongoingโค debates about fair artistโฃ compensation.
The band’s detailedโข breakdown arrives amid increasing scrutinyโฃ of streaming economics, following recent studies showing โคindependent labels retain a larger percentage of profits for artistsโค and โa growing wave of criticismโค directed at Spotify’s royalty rates. Losโ Campesinos!’ transparency aims to provide concrete data for fellow musicians navigating the complexities of digital distribution and to fuel โขthe โconversation around โฃlasting income models for artists.
Earlierโ this year, Los โCampesinos! previously detailed the โคfinancial realities of touring, reporting a loss on a single Dublin show despite a strong performance.This latest disclosure buildsโฃ on that effort to demystify the economics of being a working musician โขin 2025.
Theโ band’s data shows aโ significant per-stream difference. While specific figures were โnot โinstantly released, โขsources confirmโข TIDAL’s payout rate was demonstrably higher than Spotify’s, resultingโค in a larger overall revenue share for Los Campesinos!โข despite potentially lower overall โคstream counts on the platform.
This revelationโข follows Spotify founder Danielโ Ek’s proclamation in September that he would step down as CEO in January โฃ2026, a โคmove occurring against a backdrop of ongoing โcriticism regarding artist โขpayments andโ Ek’s other business ventures. Spotify recently claimed to have paid $10 billion (ยฃ7.58 billion)โ in royalties in 2024, butโ artistsโข continue to questionโ the fairness ofโ the distribution model.
The band’s decision to share this data โขcomesโข after they turned down a $60,000 โฃadvertising deal withโฃ Airbnb, citing ethicalโฃ concernsโ regarding the company’s alleged โconnections to “stolen Palestinian land.” Thisโ demonstrates a commitment to aligning their financialโค decisions with their โขpoliticalโค and โคsocial values, further emphasizing theirโ dedication to transparency and accountability.
