“How much does Spotify pay for one million streams?”

It is one of the most common questions in music.

It is also incomplete.

The more useful question is:

How much reaches the artist after everything else?

Streaming revenue

A DSP calculates royalties based on its applicable model.

There is no universal guaranteed per-stream value.

Revenue can vary based on factors such as:

• country;
• subscription;
• platform economics;
• rights.

Distributor economics

Your distributor may use:

• annual fee;
• release fee;
• percentage of royalties;
• combination of charges.

Compare your actual deal.

Collaborator splits

The recording might need to pay:

• label;
• featured artist;
• producer;
• other master participants.

That reduces what the primary artist ultimately keeps.

Currency conversion

International earnings can pass through currency conversion before arriving.

FX can affect the final number.

Withdrawal fees

Once royalties become available, your chosen payout method may have another transaction charge.

Tax

Tax depends heavily on artist location, business structure and circumstances.

Do not confuse:

royalty revenue

with:

personal spendable income after tax.

Publishing is separate

If you wrote the song, the composition may generate publishing income in addition to master-recording royalties.

That should not be confused with distributor income.

Use net revenue

For your own catalogue, calculate:

Money received ÷ streams

over long periods.

This produces a real historical number for your music.

Then monitor whether it changes.

Final thoughts

Per-stream articles are useful for curiosity.

They are less useful for running a business.

Artists should understand the complete chain:

listener → DSP → distributor → collaborators → currency → payment → tax

The number at the beginning is not the number in your bank.