There is no simple ‘Spotify pay-per-stream rate’, however we can calculate how many streams equate to how much money with some averages.

Whether you’re a musician, producer or songwriter, if you’re looking to get into the music business to make money, you’re already starting with the wrong approach. Starting to make music should come from a passion. Let the fans and money roll in later as you develop your talent. The good news is, streaming services like Spotify can pay artists sizable amounts of money, especially when you go independent to keep all of your revenue.

Most major streaming services pay artists on a pro-rata basis. Streaming services collect all of the advertising and subscription revenue earned over a month, then divide this money evenly based on the number of streams an artist gains in one month. As advertising revenue fluctuates based on how the listener interacts with the advert, and both advertising and subscription revenue fluctuates based on the location of the listener, streaming services simply do not have a ‘pay-per-stream rate’. For this reason Googling “Spotify pay per stream” brings up a range of results depending on the source. That being said, most results seem to sit between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream.

Note, these payout rates will likely be drastically reduced for artists signed to major record labels.

To ensure you are keeping all of the revenue generated on stores and streaming services, distribute your music through RouteNote. With RouteNote you can easily get your music onto any or all major stores and streaming services around the world to maximise revenue. Rather stick to just digital stores like iTunes? No problem! With 100% of the rights, you stay in control of where your music goes.