Ad supported streams in Spotify are counted in a separate pool, and only get paid out of the ad revenue pool.

Artists can of course complain that "they're selling our music for cheap!", especially in the ad pool. But what's worth remembering is that when it comes to setting optimal price points, Spotify's interest is almost perfectly aligned with the artists. And Spotify has a hell of a lot more data than artists (not to mention financial sense, which you probably didn't become an artist if you had a lot of).

> people like T Swift and whatnot tour constantly

Maybe not the best comparison to anything. Swift is known for being an even better busiensswoman than artist and obsessed with having control.

She screwed her record company for profits, not the other way around. Not many people have done that. She's likely making money on both ends of the stick.

The Pudding had a nice article explaining how streaming revenue is distributed: https://pudding.cool/2022/06/streaming/

When he says "so if I'm doing the math right that means I earned $12" I interpret that as him exaggerating for effect. It's definitely not him citing the pay slip.

"$2 or more per thousand streams, split across rightsholders" seems like an accurate estimate.