Spotify reports that 200,000 artists are using ‘Fan Support’ — which is the new name of the Artist Fundraising Pick feature.
Spotify has renamed its Artist Fundraising Pick feature to Fan Support and shared some statistics showing more than 200,000 artists are using it. 90% of the artists with a Fan Support link on their profile use the feature to collect donations from fans, while 10% use it to raise money for their chosen charity or cause.
When the feature launched in 2020, Spotify intended it “as a way for listeners to directly contribute to the personal causes and needs of artists.” As it turns out, many of those needs involve supporting themselves monetarily, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for artists to continue making money through live performances without using a streaming service.
“Being able to access this tool gives us the opportunity to allow fans to help fund unique experiences or projects that otherwise wouldn’t be financially possible for us,” says R&B group Emotional Oranges.
Fan Support enables fans to directly support their favorite artists and causes they care about on Spotify, utilizing third-party platforms like Cash App, GoFundMe, PayPal, and Marcado Pago. Spotify takes no cut of the transaction and reports that fans have clicked on Fan Support links over 50 million times.
“Fan Support is part of Spotify for Artists’ growing portfolio of monetization tools, giving artists and fans more options when it comes to how they connect and engage on Spotify — whether through streaming royalties, merch, ticketing, live interaction, or direct support,” the company says.
“Artists and their fan communities have demonstrated the power of coming together to help those in need,” says Kelly Galvin, GoFundMe’s Global Head of Partnerships and Philanthropy. “From helping musicians get back on their feet after band equipment was stolen to rallying around causes they care about such as supporting the AAPI community or protecting the environment.” Galvin continues, “Artists and fans have the real opportunity to come together for collective change and we already see that happening on GoFundMe.”
Spotify’s push to enable artists to support themselves through the company’s tools rather than its competitors, Twitch and YouTube, is a smart move. Amazon and Google, the parent companies of Twitch and YouTube, respectively, gained a considerable foothold in the music streaming world during the pandemic.