Here's the problem. I've got a family spotify subscription. For $15 a month we get 4 accounts. Each of us listen to around 100,000 minutes of music a year. Lets call that 100,000 songs for $180. If every song has the same payout then my family is being subsidized by the people who spend $10 a month to listen to 30,000 minutes of music a year. We're effectively taking other people's subscription money to pay the artists we listen to.