“Weird Al” Yankovic served up a wicked dish for Spotify on Wednesday as he criticized the streaming service over its payouts for artists.
Yankovic delivered a video message via Spotify Wrapped ― the streaming service’s yearly roundup of users’ most-listened-to artists ― and thanked the fans who listened to him “over and over and over” for their support in 2023.
The “Eat It” singer cited how much fans have listened to him before using food to take a swipe at Spotify.
“It’s my understanding that I had over 80 million streams on Spotify this year, so if I’m doing the math right, that means I earned $12,” he said.
“So, you know, enough to get myself a nice sandwich at a restaurant. So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for your support and ― thanks for the sandwich,” he added.
The clip has since gained over 1 million views on X, formerly Twitter.
Spotify’s payouts for artists have faced criticism from the music community for years.
Yankovic’s sandwich jab comes after the streaming service recently announced changes toward its approach to royalty payments. This includes a policy, set to begin early next year, where artists won’t receive payouts for tracks with less than 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months.