Spotify dipped its toes in the waters of tips economies in April 2020 when it launched its 'Artist Fundraising Pick' feature. It enabled musicians to add a link to their profiles for fans to donate either to them, or to their chosen charities, though in reality, many artists we know held off declaring themselves as a fundraising pick, given the name of the feature implied it was raising money for an external cause.
It was more of a quick-fix response to the Covid-19 pandemic than a strategic move, and the payments were all handled by external partners, but it did still signify a potential interest in adding a tips economy to Spotify's traditional system of royalties. Now we have an idea of how that may play out. Spotify is renaming Artist Fundraising Pick to 'Fan Support' – confirmation that it's here for the longer term – while saying that more than 200,000 artists are using it. We'd be interested to know if any of you have used the feature thus far and your experience, if so, please get in touch by replying to this email! Via Spotify PR