You mention your discover weekly. Do you know how that algorithm works? It suggests songs that you have not played, that other people who played songs that you played. It's the same positive feedback loop. It's songs already popular that it promotes to be played more. Which makes them more popular so it recommends them more. And thus you end up with the most steamed artists only making 15% of the content.

Does it work? Passably. For the majority, mostly generic listeners. Is it a fair way to structure a platform and to dispense payments? No. A great business model however.

Ease of publishing - ignoring the fact that it’s been easy to record and publish since well before Spotify came along - just means more volume of content to sift through for audiences, meaning that lesser known artists end up having a hard time just like they did before, it’s just that now it’s for different reasons. Regardless the result is the same: bigger artists get an advantage on being discovered. At best it’s still the same playing field it was before.

Spotify did not democratize the ability for working musicians to earn money any more than broadcast radio did. Another medium that favored and continues to favor already established artists.