“Weird Al” Yankovic Thanks Spotify for Paying Him $12 for 80 Million Streams

Musical comic “Weird Al” Yankovic is laughing all the way to the bank, where he’ll be depositing the $12 Spotify paid him for racking up 80 million streams in 2023.

To celebrate the streaming service’s annual “wrapped” campaign that kicked off today, Weird Al has taken advantage of the platform’s feature that allows artists to post a personalised video message to their loyal listeners, where he’s shared his gratitude for the big payday.

“Thanks for the sandwich”

“I just want you to thank you all for your amazing support,” he told fans in the video, which you can stream above. “It’s my understanding that I had over 80 million streams on Spotify this year.”

He continued: “So if I’m doing the math right, that means I earned $12, so, you know, enough to get myself a nice sandwich at a restaurant. So from the bottom of my heart, thanks for your support. And, uh, thanks for the sandwich.”

It comes as the American-based music industry trade union United Musicians & Allied Workers has responded to the elaborate marketing campaign around Spotify Wrapped with a reminder of Spotify’s payment inequity.

“One stat you won’t find in your Spotify Wrapped is how much artists are paid for all that listening on the platform,” UMAW said in a post on social media.

The union revealed that, due to a lack of regulation on streaming, the maximum amount artists can hope to earn from Spotify is $US0.003 per stream. This figure is set to drop even further in 2024.

“In 2024, Spotify will stop paying anything AT ALL for 2/3 of the tracks on the platform,” wrote UMAW.

You can read more about it here.

Further Reading

“Weird Al” Yankovic Review – Just Deserts for Daring to Be Stupid

New ‘Africa’ Video Stars Weird Al Yankovic Parodying Weezer Parodying Themselves Parodying Toto

Musicians’ Union Responds to Spotify Wrapped with Reminder of Spotify’s Unfair Payment Policies