Snoop Dogg needs no introduction in the hip-hop world. His music is the favorite of many across the world. And with the introduction of streaming platforms, his music has become more readily accessible.
When streaming services were introduced into mainstream music, it was hailed as a game changer because musicians can make money from the number of people who listen to or download their music.
Until the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), streaming was the main means of making money online. NFT is now a very strong competitor and Snoop Dogg noticed that quite early.
With the assistance of his son, he turned to NFTs due to low payouts from streaming services. Speaking on the “Business Untitled” podcast, the rapper said he initially expressed skepticism about NFTs but Cordell Broadus helped to shift his mindset.
“My son, he the one who spooned me and groomed me to this,” Snoop Dogg told “Business Untitled.” “In the beginning it was a bunch of motherf–kers just using my name, my face, and just doing all kind of sh-t…and he called me, he said, ‘Pops, it’s what you can’t do. You can’t be mad because if they using your face and your likeness, they love you. They just don’t know how they get in touch with you. So what you should do is reach out to them and say thanks or good looking out, or do you want to collaborate?’”
He shared that he received less than $45,000 after reaching a billion streams on Spotify. Sharing insights into the economics of streaming, he noted, “In the streaming world, I can show you right now. They just sent me some sh-t from Spotify, where I got a billion streams, right? My publisher hit me.
“I said, ‘Break that down, how much money is that?’ That sh-t wasn’t even $45,000… You see what I’m saying? So it’s like…when this sh-t came out, I could tell an artist that same song that you put out traditionally that didn’t make no money, give it to me. Every time you sell it if somebody else sells it you get 10% of it.”
Meanwhile, the Economic Times reports that Spotify pays artists around $0.0035 per stream. the platform adds that this amount doesn’t go directly to the artist, but to other parties like record labels, managers, and credited songwriters, along with Spotify taking a share.
The publication concluded that if Snoop Dogg’s claim is accurate, then it is remarkably low and raises questions about the accuracy of such estimates.
