Thanks to the blossoming and booming world of digital music the playing field has been levelled for artists around the world and major labels are losing their power.

A new report shows that major labels are feeling fobbed off by Spotify as they prioritise more and more independent artists for playlist features. The report from Deutsche Bank says that major labels don’t feel they are getting enough access to Spotify’s massive playlists which bring in billions of plays each week.

Whilst the major labels may be upset we think it’s fantastic news that Spotify are supporting independent artists and their rise considering they have far less opportunities than big, funded labels. We have seen a whole load of the artists who use our website to get their music online independently get featured in some of Spotify’s massive playlists and it represents a major shift in the music industry.

We spoke to Borrtex, a self-made artist who uses RouteNote to get his music on to the world’s top services. His recent track went from thousands of plays from his dedicated fans to hundreds-of-thousands within weeks after Spotify picked up his tune and added it to their sleep playlist with 2.2 million followers and new listeners were presented his music.

Borrtex artist streaming success Spotify playlist growth new listeners streams
Borrtex’s streams exploded after Spotify picked up his track

Playlists are becoming the new radio stations where millions of people will come to a trusted source, whether that be Spotify curators or music influencers, to find the freshest and best music. The difference is, radio was often influenced by the labels who would pay to feature their newest tracks. Spotify decides who they want to feature, and they’ve been massively supportive of independent artists – featuring undiscovered and rising acts.

Deutsche Bank’s report cites an unnamed “25-year music industry veteran, who sat with the analysts and tried to help them understand Spotify’s economic position”. They quoted the source as saying: “Algotorial playlists on Spotify have a lower share of major label content. As this grows in the listening mix the major labels stand to marginally lose share. Our featured speaker noted this as a major thorn in labels’ sides.”

Spotify is providing an amazing platform for independent artists to be heard around the world thanks to the openness of the internet. Their promotion of smaller artists is creating amazing opportunities for so many and finally taking the hierarchy out of music represented by the major labels’ longstanding grip over the industry.