“‘Foundations’ has over 100 million plays on Spotify — and I’m shocked I’m not a millionaire when I hear that! I’m shocked at the state of the music industry and how the industry has allowed this to happen,” said Nash.
“We’re paid very, very, very poorly and unethically for our recorded music: it’s like 0.003 of a penny per stream. I think we should not only be paid fairly, but we should be paid very well. People love music and it’s a growing economy and there are plenty of millionaires in the industry because of that, and our music.”
She added: “And what they’re saying to artists from non-rich privileged backgrounds, which is you’re not welcome here, you can’t do this, we don’t want to hear from you. Because it’s not possible to even imagine having a career if you don’t have a privileged background or a privileged situation right now.”
Spotify has since responded to Nash’s statement, claiming that they’ve sent a significant amount of money to Universal for Nash’s Spotify streams. Therefore, if she hasn’t received ample compensation, that’s between her and her rights holders.
“We’re huge fans of Kate Nash. For streams of her track ‘Foundations’ alone — which was released before Spotify existed — Spotify has paid out around half a million pounds in revenue to Kate Nash’s rights holders,” reads Spotify’s statement.
“Her most streamed songs were released via Universal Music Group. Spotify has no visibility over the deals that Kate signed with her rights holders. Therefore, we have no knowledge of the payment terms that were agreed upon between her and her partners.”
“We do know that British artists generated revenues of over £750 million on Spotify alone in 2023 — a number that is on the rise year on year — so it’s disappointing to hear that Spotify’s payments are not making it through to Kate herself,” the company concluded.
Kate Nash also released a statement on her Instagram after she mentioned that she started an OnlyFans account to supplement her income for her tours. She says touring can easily become a money sink; the fact people seem more up in arms about her having an OnlyFans account should shine a light on how hard it is for musicians to make money in the industry.
“Don’t be ‘sad’ that I started an OnlyFans to fund my tours. I’s very empowering and selling pics of my arse is fun and funny; sex is fun and funny,” she wrote. “Women being in control of their bodies is vital and something we should all be standing by and fighting for.”
“Are you sad music has little to no value? Would you be interviewing me or writing about me or talking about me if I had simply posted ‘going on tour, the business is shit, help me protect my employees and integrity of my show.’”
“Would my tour be on the front page of Reddit two days in a row?” she continued. “Fuck no it wouldn’t. My arse is shining a light on the problem. Honestly, I’m such a legend for this.”