Where/How does Spotify & Pandora source their music and catalog it all?

Question

Where/How does Spotify & Pandora source their music and catalog it all?

In: Technology

Answer 1

All the streaming services have contracts with the record labels which provide them music.

These streaming services work on a “pay per play” basis, so the labels get paid when a song is played. This incentives the record labels to offer their songs to anyone and everyone operating a streaming service so they have more opportunities to get plays.

In reality, the top 10% or so of artists make up nearly all the plays in streaming, with the top top people, generally pop artists, being the most important of the bunch (think Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, Drake, etc.)