Sony Music has officially begun to distribute the $750 million in profit it collected from the sale of 50% of its Spotify shares to its artists and distributed labels.
According to Variety, the disbursement will be based on earnings over the last 10 years (i.e. since Sony’s initial investment in the Swedish streaming service), allocated according to individual artist and label contract terms, and divisible against Sony’s own revenues from the Spotify stock gain for that time period.
So, what does this mean for artists who generally make a fraction of a cent on streaming? Apparently, that the checks have been mailed out and that they can expect to see a little money in the bank by the end of the month. Sony has also confirmed that they will not count the funds against the artists’ and label’s unrecouped earnings.
The payout, which was spearheaded by Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer, applies to all Sony-affiliated artists, producers, featured guests, and labels globally.