Canadian musician Drake says Spotify should pay musicians bonuses after reaching huge milestones instead of just being awarded plaques.

The musician just made history by surpassing 75 billion streams on Spotify. His response to the achievement was a direct hit at the digital streaming service.

In an Instagram Stories update on 1st February 2023, Drake implied that musicians should get monetary rewards or incentives after achieving certain feats on Spotify instead of just being handed a plaque.

The rapper said: 

“We should get bonuses like athletes to motivate the future artists to be consistent and competitive… So feel free to send me a Lebron-sized cheque. I have enough dinner plates.”

As the most-streamed musician of the 2010s and in the history of Spotify, Drake has some of the biggest songs on Spotify. Being the most-streamed musician makes him one of the most-paid musicians on the platform. In 2021 alone, it is reported that he earned $52 million with 21.5 billion streams. His recently released collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, which was released on 4th November 2022 surpassed 1 billion streams in December of the same year.

According to the Financial Times, Universal Music Group together with other major streaming services is undergoing a new model that would pay musicians fairly. Currently, Spotify pays musicians between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream on average, with 70% of revenue going toward artists/rights holders and 30% to Spotify. According to the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), “The company behind the streaming platform continues to accrue value, yet music workers everywhere see little more than pennies in compensation for the work they make”. The Union has put forward a project to fight for justice for musicians. The project currently has over 28,000 signatures.