Do most musicians benefit from being on Spotify?

WXXI News | By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Emmarae Stein

Published January 31, 2022 at 4:31 PM EST

Spotify officials plan to make the company's IPO available only to institutional investors.

Amidst the dustup over Spotify and Joe Rogan, a question that doesn't get asked very much is: Do most musicians benefit from being on Spotify? There's a range of views on this. Many up-and-coming musicians feel like their work is consumed for very little money. Spotify contends that artists are paid fairly and benefit in both revenue and new listener opportunities. Our guests discuss it:

Zahyia Rolle, Rochester-based musician
Matthew James, musician with Soviet Dolls
Justin Montione, musician with Haishen
Paul Nunes, leader of The Occasional Saints and The P.V. Nunes Band, and founding partner of Heisman Nunes and Hull LLP

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Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

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Megan Mack

Megan Mack the producer of Connections with Evan Dawson and Unleashed: The Pet Show. She joined the WXXI News team from WHEC-TV, where she produced newscasts and The Olympic Zone, and from the University of Rochester, where she served as an assistant director of public relations. Her background extends to television sports and entertainment, and to communications and social media management for non-profits.

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Emmarae Stein