Snoop Dogg’s beef with Spotify is no secret. The iconic rapper has long taken issue with the streamer’s payout structure. In fact, in an unearthed podcast interview, Snoop threatened the service with legal action over severely underpaying him for “billions” of streams.
Back in 2023, Snoop sat down with the Business Untitled podcast crew for an in-depth conversation. During the chat, he brought up his beef with Spotify and alleged they paid him very little for a lot of streams.
“Y’all paid me $45,000 for a billion streams? A BILLION,” he claimed. “That ain’t no typo. Forty-five racks for a billion plays of my music. That’s robbery in broad daylight. I’ve been quiet about this for years, watching the numbers, but this time I’m done being polite. Spotify, you better explain that math or I’m taking this straight to court.”
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“I don’t care how big y’all are,” Snoop continued. “I’ve been getting played for a long time. Soft-pedaled. Underpaid. Straight-up robbed of the sweat and years I put into this game.”
Snoop also implied that he believes this has been happening to other artists. “I know I’m not the only one,” he said. “How many artists out here grinding, dropping heat, and getting pennies while these platforms laugh all the way to the bank? That’s not business. That’s stealing from the people who actually make the music.”
“This time I had to speak up,” Snoop added. “If they don’t come correct with an explanation and make this right, we going to see each other in court. Period.”
Snoop previously indicated that he was going to leave Spotify for another streamer
More than a year later, Snoop reignited his Spotify beef, saying he was going to leave the streamer for a competitor. “I don’t f**k with Spotify anymore. I’m only on Tune.FM.”
In response to his comments, Spotify refuted Snoop’s claims.”We can’t speak to endorsement deals for Web3 companies but … $45K for a billion streams? It’s well documented that a billion streams on Spotify generates millions of dollars to rights holders,” a Spotify spokesperson told TMZ Hip Hop.
“It’s unfortunate to hear that Spotify’s payments didn’t make it through to Snoop,” the spokesperson added. “Snoop’s a legend and, hopefully now that he owns Death Row Records, he’s seeing more of that money.”
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The post Snoop Dogg v. Spotify: Rapper Threatened to Take Streaming Company to Court Over Underpaying Him for a ‘Billion Plays’ appeared first on VICE.
