Spotify lets artists bypass labels and put music on the platform themselves

Spotify invited the first independent music artists on Thursday to upload their own music to the streaming platform. The artists can thus bypass music companies and directly obtain the income themselves.

The upload option is part of a major update to the existing Spotify for Artists service, which allows artists to manage their own pages and view statistics. Initially, independent artists will be invited to access the beta feature only. Spotify invited several hundred artists to try the service on Thursday, but promises to send more invitations. A small number of musicians have already tested the update, including Noname, Michael Brun, VIAA and Hot Shade.

“You can bring your music straight to Spotify and plan for the perfect day of release,” is Spotify’s message to artists, adding that they get paid when fans stream their music “just like releasing through a partner.” . “Your royalties will automatically appear in your bank account and you will see a clear overview of how much your streams are earning, in addition to the other information you already get on Spotify for Artists.”

Initiatives to bypass music companies and offer artists the opportunity to earn money directly from downloads or streams have been around for some time. This was also the goal of MP3.com, which came online in the late 1990s. However, Spotify is the market leader in the music streaming market, on which the music industry is now largely dependent for its revenue.