The two companies have announced details of the first of these “artist-centric” models after announcing their collaboration earlier this year. The new system will launch first in France this year before rolling out to other countries. The new model is based around four key points: a “double boost” in its payouts to “professional artists” (apparently musicians who get at least 1000 monthly streams from at least 500 unique listeners); a double boost for “songs that fans actively engage with,” not those that have been dished up in algorithmic playlists; replacing “non-artist noise content” (think white noise, wave sounds etc) in the royalty matrix and last but not least a promise of an updated “and stricter, proprietary fraud detection system.” There’s already been critique and pushback from European indie label body IMPALA and French distributor Believe, but it’s an interesting step… forward, we think?