Set aside for a moment the issue of bots. In the pro-rata model they are averaging all income over all artists for a period of time. It’s one giant average for the whole system. In the fan-powered model, it’s averaging by artist and fan, but for the whole system it’s the same amount of total income and payout. And if the proportion of payout is by number of plays, in the pro-rata model, wouldn’t the band have gotten the same payout, but it would be averaged over all listeners, instead of the just the fans? The fan-powered model does seem to establish more of a bond between listeners and bands, but in terms of payout, are the models that different? I don’t know.
When you add in the bots though, that could make a difference. If it swings the average over to the artists that are most popular because that makes the bots more money, that would clearly change things. But not being a music creator, I don’t really understand what the bots do.
