Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth slams Spotify for low artist payments

Cradle of Filth's Dani Filth voiced his discontent over Spotify's minuscule payouts to artists in a recent interview.

He criticized the music streaming service for its practice of paying artists very little for each stream. According to Filth, the onset of the digital age and the rise of music streaming platforms like Spotify have made it increasingly difficult for musicians to earn a living.

"Like Spotify are the biggest criminals in the world. I think we had 25, 26 million plays last year, and I think personally I got about 20 pounds, which is less than an hourly work rate."

Filth also discussed the misconceptions people have about musicians' income, emphasizing that artists have numerous expenses and that streaming services like Spotify contribute to the financial challenges faced by bands.

“I think people just have this amazing ability to [believe] that when you have stuff out there, like physical product, that you’re earning a fortune from it. They don’t realize you have so many people taking pieces of the pie — record company, management, accountants, blah blah blah blah; it doesn’t matter."

He called attention to the need for greater awareness among the general public about the realities of the music industry in the digital era.

“Yeah, the music industry is on its knees at the moment. I still enjoy making music — don’t get me wrong; I love it — but, yeah, the musician nowadays is finding a million things against them. It’s a hard time.”

Despite his love for making music, Filth acknowledged the hardships faced by musicians in the current climate, including canceled tours and rising costs.