So this is why the podcasts are absolutely crammed full of ads?

It frustrates me that I get ads after paying for premium, but the way they weasel out of it is the tagline "unlimited ad free music"... And I guess, podcasts ain't music.

Still, I'm glad they're paying 2/3rds to rights holders. I'm an indie musician, historically a lot of my music was released on labels so they've creamed a good amount of my royalties. I feel like there's a lot of misunderstandings about how much people earn from Spotify (ie publisher / label is often getting a lions share leading to low return for the artist). People see "0.003c per stream" and assume Spotify are taking the piss as it's technically a low number. But, taking 1/3rd is a damn sight better than what the digi retail sites like beatport take (50/50 with the label, who then splits that 50/50 with the artist).

You can self release and self promote on spotify, which imo although there's still a power imbalance, it's a better deal for the artist if you go indie. Meanwhile the labels & publishers seem to go unmentioned when it comes to lack of artist revenue.