Following years of criticism for giving away music, Spotify seemed pretty pleased with itself last December when it announced that total payments to the music fraternity had exceeded $500m (UK£328, AUD$489).
Now founder and CEO Daniel Ek can poke his tongue out at the naysayers with even more gusto after claiming that his company will be forking over the same amount in 2013 alone.
Indeed the company, which now has five million people paying for monthly Premium access, reckons it has become a veritable ATM for cash-deprived musicians, publishers and record labels around the world.
Ek said, for the first time, artists are starting to see 'real money' from Spotify - the world's most popular streaming solution - and rival platforms like Rdio, Deezer and Pandora.
Giving back, but is it enough?
Speaking to USA today, the 29-year-old Swede said: "This is how fast we're growing. Up until December of 2012 we'd paid out over half a billion dollars in royalties back to the music industry, which is great.
"This year alone we're going to pay out half a billion, so it's a pretty rapid growth.
"I think artists are starting to see real money now coming out of music subscription services."
However, artists who aren't generating millions upon millions of plays like Metallica, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and so forth - may debate just how real that money is.
Independent artist Erin McKeown revealed late last year that she earns $0.004 per play on Spotify and that most of her income still comes from iTunes album sales. The debate over whether Spotify is truly good for the music industry rumbles on.
Via USA Today
