Spotify Should Implement a Donation Feature to Save Mid-Tier Musicians

As an amateur musician with a monthly listener count of around 3,000 on Spotify, I’ve come to accept that I won’t be making any significant money from this platform. Music is a passion of mine, not my primary source of income. I earn my living through my day job.

However, my experience on Twitch has opened my eyes to the potential of small-scale monetization for creators like myself. On Twitch, I managed to earn some money through my 110 paid subscribers (and one time tippers). This wasn’t because of a massive follower/viewer count. I only had around 100 viewers per stream. So surprisingly, my low-effort streams on Twitch turned out to be more profitable than the months I spent composing music, paying for mix and mastering services.

The reason? Twitch has effectively gamified the process of donating. Whenever someone donates, their name appears on the screen, and making a donation is as simple as a single click. This encourages more viewers to donate and creating a continuous cycle of support.

On the other hand, Spotify doesn’t offer such features. Even if someone loves my song, there’s no direct way for them to show their support with a donation. Last year, I was among the top 10 artists for 60 people, according to their Spotify Wrapped. Imagine if each of these listeners had the option to donate a small amount. This could encourage me to produce more music.

A donation feature on Spotify could operate similarly to Twitch. Displaying top and recent donors on an artist’s profile, which not only rewards donors with recognition but also motivates others to contribute.

Implementing such a feature could democratize the process of supporting artists. It would not only help small artists like myself but could also introduce a new revenue model that feels personal/direct for both the artist and the supporter.