Music

Music Royalty Calculator

Estimate streaming royalties from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon, and more — at typical 2026 per-stream rates.

Quick Answer

Approximate per-stream payouts: Spotify $0.003-$0.005, Apple Music $0.007-$0.01, YouTube Music $0.0008-$0.002, Tidal $0.0125-$0.013. Multiply by streams, subtract distributor and label cuts.

Estimate Your Payout

Streams (per platform)

Your Share (%)

After label/co-writer splits

Distributor Fee ($/yr)

Flat fee like DistroKid

ServiceRateGrossYour Net
Spotify$0.0030–$0.0050$300.00–$500.00$150.00–$250.00
Apple Music$0.0070–$0.0100$700.00–$1000.00$350.00–$500.00
YouTube Music$0.0008–$0.0020$80.00–$200.00$40.00–$100.00
Tidal$0.0125–$0.0130$1250.00–$1300.00$625.00–$650.00
Amazon Music$0.0040–$0.0050$400.00–$500.00$200.00–$250.00
Deezer$0.0064–$0.0080$640.00–$800.00$320.00–$400.00
Pandora$0.0010–$0.0020$100.00–$200.00$50.00–$100.00
SoundCloud$0.0025–$0.0040$250.00–$400.00$125.00–$200.00

Total Across All Services (assuming 100,000 streams each)

$1860.00 – $2450.00

Add publishing/mechanical royalties (~10-15% additional) and any sync, merch, or live performance income.

About This Tool

The Music Royalty Calculator estimates streaming income across major platforms based on stream count, your revenue share, and distributor fees. It uses 2026 typical per-stream rates published by indie distributors and trade publications. These are estimates — actual rates vary by listener region, subscription tier, time of year, and many other factors — but they give you a realistic ballpark for planning.

How Streaming Royalties Work

Streaming services collect subscription and ad revenue from listeners, retain about 30%, then pool the rest. From that pool they pay rights holders based on each track's share of total streams in a given region. Spotify calls this the "pro-rata streamshare" model. The per-stream rate you see published is an average derived from total payouts divided by total streams — your actual rate fluctuates monthly.

Why Spotify Pays Less Than Apple

Spotify has a free ad-supported tier that contributes much less revenue per listener than paid subscriptions. Apple Music has no free tier — every listener is paying $11/month. Apple's per-stream payout is roughly 2× Spotify's as a result. Tidal pays even more because it markets to audiophiles willing to pay $20/month for hi-res audio. YouTube Music pays the least because the parent company also serves enormous quantities of free ad-supported video, diluting payouts.

The Distributor Cut

To get on streaming services you need a distributor. Options range from DistroKid ($20-40/year flat, no per-stream cut) and Amuse (free with limits) to TuneCore ($30/year per album with no cut), CD Baby (9% commission), and full-service distributors like UnitedMasters and Symphonic. Indie artists keep dramatically more income with flat-fee distributors at scale. CD Baby's 9% might cost you $9 on $100 of streaming income; DistroKid's $20 flat fee covers the same — better deal once you exceed about 22,000 streams/month total.

Splits and Co-Writers

If you have a producer who took beat ownership, a co-writer, or a featured artist with revenue share, your "your share" field reduces accordingly. A common modern split: 50% to the producer (who often retains ownership of the beat), 25% to the writer, 25% to the artist. Even if you collected $1000 in gross streaming revenue, your net after these splits might be $250. Consider these splits when negotiating with collaborators.

Beyond Performance Royalties

The numbers in this tool are master/performance royalties. Songwriters also earn mechanical royalties (much smaller, about 10-15% additional on top of master rates) and performance royalties from radio play (collected by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC). Sync licensing for film/TV pays $1,000-$50,000 per placement depending on the project. Live performance and merch typically dwarf streaming income for working musicians. Don't treat streams as your only income source.

Pair With Other Tools

Use our Gig Pay Calculator to split live show revenue, the Streaming Audio Quality Calculator to compare service tiers, the LUFS Calculator for streaming loudness targets, the Audio File Size Calculator for delivery format planning, the Audio Bandwidth Calculator for self-streaming infrastructure, or the Tap Tempo BPM for songwriting.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Spotify pay per stream?
Spotify's per-stream rate ranges roughly $0.003 to $0.005 USD, varying by listener subscription tier (free vs Premium), country, and currency exchange. Spotify pays via a 'streamshare' model — total subscription revenue in a region divided by total streams there, then artists get their share of streams. Rates have trended down over time as catalog grows. Spotify also now excludes tracks under 1,000 streams/year from royalty payouts as of 2024.
Why does Apple Music pay more than Spotify?
Apple Music has a higher per-subscriber revenue (no free ad-supported tier subsidizing payouts) and a smaller catalog distributing the pie. The combined effect: roughly 2x Spotify per stream on average. Apple's published 'penny per stream' rate is approximately $0.01, though actual payouts to indie artists average closer to $0.007-0.008 after distributor cuts. Apple Music is the indie artist's preferred streaming partner for revenue.
What's the cut taken by distributors and labels?
Distributors (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Amuse, etc.) typically take 0-15% of streaming revenue or a flat annual fee. DistroKid keeps 0% but charges $20-40/year per artist. CD Baby takes 9%. Labels traditionally take 50-85% on top of distributor fees, leaving the artist with 15-50% of net streaming income. Modern indie artists often skip labels to keep more of the small per-stream payout.
How many streams do I need to make $1000?
On Spotify ($0.004 average): roughly 250,000 streams to gross $1000 — and that's before distributor fees and any label/co-writer splits. On Apple Music ($0.008 average): about 125,000 streams. On Tidal ($0.013 average): about 77,000 streams. Most indie artists only see meaningful streaming income after their catalog hits hundreds of thousands or millions of total monthly streams across all platforms.
What about mechanical royalties and publishing?
Streaming services pay both performance royalties (to the master rights holder, typically the artist or label) and mechanical/publishing royalties (to songwriters and publishers). The numbers above are for performance/master royalties only. Songwriters earn additional mechanical royalties (typically much smaller — about 10-15% of total stream payout) collected by performance rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).

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