But is it the same scenario for the big names in classical music? A new study looks at how much money composers such as Beethoven and Chopin would have earned from streaming, if they were still alive.
Looking into the revenue that would have been generated by their millions of listeners at the time these pieces were composed, the tourism board of Leipzig, Germany, estimated that rights holders would be remunerated with US$0.0037 per stream.
Johann Sebastian Bach is the most popular classical music composer on Spotify, due in part to his “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007”, which can be heard in movies like “The Pianist”.
This legendary classic has been listened to more than 162 million times on the streaming platform, which would have allowed Bach to earn US$24.7 million in royalties, taking inflation into account.
This is a far cry from the annual salary (the equivalent of today’s US$39,000) he would have earned as artistic director of the St Thomas Church Choir in Leipzig.
Surpassing ‘Shape of You’
Even more impressive, his “Cello Suite No. 1” is more profitable than Ed Sheeran’s hit “Shape of You”, which has been listened to nearly three billion times on Spotify since its release in January 2017.
This huge popularity is estimated to have earned the English singer US$10.4 million, which is half as much as Bach’s royalties for “Cello Suite No. 1” – again, taking inflation into account.
Other composers would have also made a very good living during their lifetime thanks to music streaming, such as Frederic Chopin. The French-Polish pianist would have pocketed US$9.6 million for his “Ballade No. 1 in G minor”.
Ludwig van Beethoven, meanwhile, would have earned US$8.9 million from millions of listens to his “Moonlight Sonata”.
Mozart, Debussy, Johannes Brahms, Antonio Vivaldi and Franz Schubert would also have earned millions of dollars from music streaming.
Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky is the one whose income from streaming would have been the lowest, earning less than US$150,000 for his ballet “The Rite of Spring”.