My album, The Funk Grooves (originally released in 2019), has become the latest casualty of Spotify’s open contempt for grassroots artists.
Let’s rewind. I’ve had problems with Spotify for years. I cancelled Premium ages ago after they began suppressing my playlists without warning. Competitors mass-reported my most popular playlists — which also included some of my own music — purely to sabotage me. Instead of investigating, Spotify looked the other way. Their so-called customer service was a joke: web chats abruptly shut down, no accountability, no answers. And judging by the number of similar complaints online, I wasn’t alone.
One of my playlists still has over 8,000 followers. It once drove serious listenership to my music. Now? Despite that following, the streams have cratered. I strongly suspect Spotify deliberately, algorithmically killed its visibility. Call it conspiratorial if you like — the timing and results are far too convenient.
And then came the next blow. Spotify quietly rewrote its royalty rules to squeeze small artists even harder: now a track must hit 1,000 streams per year before it earns a single penny. Anything under that, Spotify pockets for itself. They brand this theft as a “fraud prevention measure.” In truth, it’s just another way to siphon money from independent artists to their corporate machine.
Finally, the insult that proves their contempt. Spotify removed my most popular album, The Funk Grooves , citing “unusual streaming activity.” No proof. No transparency. Just a vague accusation and instant erasure. That album had over 250,000 streams, countless playlist adds, and a dedicated base of listeners who had favourited it. Now, because of Spotify’s reckless decision, my monthly listener count has been gutted.
Here are the stats of my album before it was removed and now nobody can listen to the original album. As you can see, the songs are greyed out as a result of them being made unplayable because of Spotify’s massively erroneous (or perhaps, purposeful?) error. As of 31st August 2025, a total of 268,673 plays now hidden:
I went to my distributor, CD Baby, for help. They ignored me completely. Which is hardly surprising: CD Baby is infamous for bleeding artists dry with fees, blocking simple changes like updating artwork, and providing abysmal support. They nickel-and-dime creators while pretending to be “indie-friendly.” If you’re considering distribution, don’t bother with them. DistroKid is cheaper, faster, and actually allows artists to make changes post-release without being extorted.
So here’s where things stand. Spotify doesn’t care about independent musicians. CD Baby doesn’t either. Both companies have made it abundantly clear that artists like me are disposable. I’ll be re-uploading The Funk Grooves through DistroKid in some fashion, and I’ll forever boycott Spotify Premium. I’ll never recommend Spotify or CD Baby to anyone. If you want a fairer streaming platform, YouTube Music and others are better alternatives.
Spotify and CD Baby can cling to their anti-grassroots policies. The music doesn’t belong to them.
UPDATE 02/09/2025: I have redistributed the album using Distrokid and it’s now back on Spotify with the stream count now displaying as they were, but since its a release with a new and different UPC, the tracks are still considered separate from the original release. This means the 100s of playlists the album featured are now not featured because it doesn’t automatically replace the original album release. So, back to square one with that album.
Daniel Kemble