I remember hearing about this. And I bet you the reason they ended up with so many songs with less than 1000 plays is because of their own algorithm. Apart from creating money problems for most musicians, they have been actively narrowing our artistic culture by effectively inbreeding modern music. Its really bad. We need musicians (and all other artists) to express and reflect who we are and what we're about. They empower us. I feel like contemporary music has become narrowed down to nothing but hedonism, vanity and self-loathing; largely thanks to the likes of spotify.

BTW if you're interested in something which is good, check out https://radiofreefedi.net/ It's music from artists on the fediverse. I've had some great sessions listening to their comfy channel and discovered some awesome new artists that I wouldn't have otherwise.