What Artists Earn For Music Streams

According to data collected by Duetti, Amazon Music, Tidal and Apple Music make it easiest for artists to earn money when their music is streamed on the respective audio platforms. All three services paid out an average of more than $6.00 per 1,000 streams in 2024, according to the calculations, with Amazon Music even hitting an average of $8.80. Duetti points out that their calculation is not on the basis of flat rates per stream, but represents different types of revenue and royalty payments.

While Apple and Amazon have collected a substantial number of (estimated) subscriber for their services, Tidal does not publish this data and is believed to have much fewer listeners. However, even Apple and Amazon subscribers combined stay behind the number of paying users industry leader Spotify has. As of the latest quarters, these numbered 265 million. The service only pays $3.00 on average per 1,000 streams and has been known for being less lucrative for artists than others in the sector. The report also points out that Spotify payouts have sunk over the years, with 2021 still having seen payouts of slightly above $4,00, according to the source. One reason for this could be Spotify's (and its subscribers') increased use of discovery mode, a feature where an algorithm suggests new music. Between 2021 and 2024 the share of discovery streams for artists opting into the mode rose from 6 percent to 26 percent. These streams pay 30 percent less than the standard rate.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has in the past downplayed criticism of the company's payment structure and cited artists' lack of engagement as a possible reason for low payouts. Instead of only releasing a new album every couple of years, Ek told music consultancy firm Music Ally in July of 2020 that "it is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans". In June, Ek had to respond to an outcry after he was quoted saying that music content cost "close to zero" to create, seemingly ignoring the criticism about underpayment that has been swirling around the company.

Duetti identified YouTube as the biggest challenger to Spotify recently, with artists' earning share from YouTube rising by 3 percentage points on average in 2024 compared to 2023. The service most recently was paying $4.80 per 1,000 streams. The report also shows that artists that go viral on TikTok tend to earn very little from their (momentary) fame. For 1,000 uses of a song or song snippet in a video uploaded to TikTok, artists generated on average just $0.50 in 2024. As a result, Duetti estimates that only 15 percent of viral TikTok songs see increases in royalty payouts and that this depends on popularity carrying over to other platforms.

Music streaming has become the most important revenue source in the recorded music segment. In 2023, 67.3 percent of earnings came from streaming services, with physical records and downloads making up for 17.8 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.