The music-streaming giant has long been the target of criticism from artists about paltry payments, but said it doled out record royalties last year.

Spotify paid the music industry $10bn (£7.7bn) in 2024, which the streaming service said was the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history. But the figures come as a heated debate continues about how much money artists and songwriters receive in royalties.

Spotify just revealed its Annual Music Report and the streaming giant just had its best year ever, paying out $10 billion to rights holders with more musicians regularly earning their living through Spotify streams and more music millionaires being created than ever before.