At the end of every year Spotify unveils their “Wrapped” special, in which they reveal to subscribers the musicians and songs they listened to the most in the last 12 months. Some of those artists record video messages, thanking their most ardent fans. “Weird Al” Yankovic, the king of musical parody, did that, but he made sure to get in a dig on Spotify’s controversial artist payment model.
“Hey, how ya doin’? Al here,” Yankovic said in his pre-recorded artist video. “Look, I’ll make this really quick. I just want to thank you all for your amazing support. It’s my understanding that I had over 80 million streams on Spotify this year, so if I’m doing the math right, that means I earned $12. So, you know, enough to get myself a nice sandwich at a restaurant. So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for your support — and thanks for the sandwich.”
The legend Weird Al criticizing what Spotify pays artists in the video he made FOR Spotify.
pic.twitter.com/wASQunepBg
— Ray Padgett (@rayfp) November 29, 2023
Last week, Spotify announced it was adjusting the streaming threshold for royalties. Beginning in early 2024, at least 1,000 streams within the past 12 months will be required for any one song to earn compensation. Spotify’s full press release can be found here.