I’ll be Bach: the classical composer worth millions on Spotify

Leipzig Region has uncovered how much money classic composers would earn from Spotify if it existed in their time, compared to modern-day pop stars

• Johan Sebastian Bach is the most streamed classical composer, with 6.7 million monthly plays on Spotify, worth around $300,000 per year

• Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude is the most streamed composition, with more than 162.6 million streams on Spotify

• Bach’s most popular composition would have earned him an astronomical $24,729,209 if he was alive today (adjusted for inflation)

• Ed Sheeran’s top-earning song “Shape of You” has only earned the pop star $10,443,694

In his time, Bach earned the equivalent of $39k per year for his services to music. That’s 180% more than Vivaldi, whose earnings would have equated to a paltry $14k. Adjusted for inflation, that’s more than $4million in today’s money, whereas Bach would be set to earn close to $25million dollars based on the popularity of his music on streaming service Spotify.

To understand just how much of an everlasting impact classical music has had on the industry, and how truly underpaid musicians were in the 1750s, Leipzig Region has analysed Spotify streaming data to see how classic composers stack up to the modern day pop stars – the results are deafening.

The research used top streaming artist Ed Sheeran’s hit ‘Shape of You’ as the benchmark for the analysis, which found the English pop star earns a whopping $10,443,694 per year for this hit single.

Top 10 classical composers based on most-streamed earnings:

The analysis uncovered that not only is Bach the only classical composer who would outsell Ed Sheeran, but that he would earn more than twice as much for ‘Cello Suite No. 1 in G Minor’ than Ed would for ‘Shape of You’.

French composer Chopin comes close to earning the equivalent of Ed Sheeran for his classical composition titled ‘Nocturne en mi bémol majeur opus 9 n°2: Ballade en Sol Mineur No.1’, which would have earned the musician close to $10million in today’s money.

Beethoven, Handel and Mozart each would have earned more than $5million per year for their biggest hits, making these classical composers some of the highest paid artists on the planet – as well as household names, and pioneers of their time.

Top 10 classical composers based on 2021 earnings:

Again, Bach tops the list when we look at the annual earnings of our composers, based on their monthly plays and the cost per stream of $0.0037. With more than 6.7million plays per month, the German composer would be set to earn almost $25,000 each month, or close to $300,000 every year. Beethoven is not far behind, earning just over $286,000 annually, and Mozart behind him on $266,000 per year.

For the top 20 composers and full list of data, please visit: https://www.leipzig.travel/en/culture/music/