Spotify paid the UK music industry £750 million last year

However, Spotify has come under fire recently for demonetising songs with fewer than1,000 streams.

That means the copyright holders will not be paid at all, if the song falls below that threshold in a 12-month period.

Critics have complained that the policy means will “enrich the top of the pyramid” and starve working musicians of money.

But Johnson said the policy was designed to filter out “spam”, and thwart fraudulent activity.

Spotify has previously noted that 1,000 plays only generates a “micro-payment” of around $0.25 (£0.20) that artists rarely see – because distributors often set a minimum threshold before artists can withdraw money.

In 2024, the company expects that the new policy will divert $40 million (£32 million) to more popular songs.

“This is not something that Spotify takes,” said Johnson. “The money goes back into the pool… to emerging and professional artists.”

This year marks the first time that Spotify has disclosed its figures for UK payouts. It says the total of £750 million has doubled since 2017.

Earlier this year, the company announced it had paid $9 billion (£7.2 billion) in royalties worldwide last year, making it the biggest single contributor to the music industry’s revenues.

YouTube, once the thorn in the industry’s side, is thought to be the industry’s second largest source of income.

In February, it said it had paid out $6 billion (£4.8 billion) to rights-holders last year.