I want to be clear. This is NOT a dig at spotify. I'm illustrating using their figures (or at least, an approximation of their figures), but this is about understanding how streaming royalties work (and why they are wrong). We focus too much on per-stream fees, and here's why.

This whole thing is predicated on the notion that to an artist, it shouldn't really be the focus that you want to be paid for every single occasion you listen to his music (after all, physical & digital sales are not time or play-limited). The artist does actually care if you listen to his music 10 times or 1000 times though, because they want to know that their music is appreciated. They care specifically, not for the number of plays, but for the appreciation and support that they personally gather.

Wait, wasn't there already something about this...?

Yep. Credit where it's due, I was informed on this subject by a few places - but initially it was this blog post by @cuepoint, I would suggest that you go and read it. If you have any energy left, come back.