Drake has called on Spotify to pay artists bonuses instead of plaques as a reward for reaching milestones on the music platform.
On Wednesday (Feb. 1), the “Way 2 Sexy” hitmaker posted a screenshot to his social media account that showed he became the first artist in history to surpass 75 billion streams on Spotify. “We should get bonuses like athletes to motivate the future artists to be consistent and competitive,” Drake wrote on his Instagram Story. “So feel free to send me a LeBron-sized [check]. I have enough dinner plates @spotify.”
According to Bleacher Report, NBA star LeBron James is earning a salary of about $45 million from the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2022-2023 season. Last year, he became a billionaire thanks to his endorsements outside of the court with Nike and Pepsi.
.@Drake has now surpassed 75 billion streams on Spotify across all credits. He is the first artist in history to hit this milestone.
— chart data (@chartdata) February 1, 2023
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In 2016, Drake’s hit single “One Dance” became the first song to earn 1 billion streams on Spotify. The Toronto native was their most streamed male artist that same year. In 2017, he set another record with the app and also became the first artist to receive 10 billion streams. In 2021, Spotify confirmed that he racked up over 50 billion streams on the platform, making him the most streamed artist once again.
According to Business Insider, Spotify generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream, meaning an artist would need to receive about 250 streams to make a dollar. Also, what you’ll be paid per stream depends on your distribution contract and listener base.
In November of last year, the OVO rapper released his joint album Her Loss with 21 Savage. The 16-track album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 404,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. As previously reported by REVOLT, the project surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.