Which music platform pays the most per stream?

Apple Music typically pays the most at approximately $0.007-0.008 per stream. Tidal pays $0.006-0.013 (premium). Spotify pays $0.003-0.005. YouTube Music pays $0.002-0.003. Amazon Music pays $0.004-0.006.

Should I distribute to all streaming platforms?

Yes — distributing to all major platforms maximizes your reach. Most flat-fee distributors (DistroKid, TuneCore) include unlimited platform distribution in their annual fee.

How do streaming royalties work?

When your song is streamed, the platform collects subscription and ad revenue into a pool. Your share is proportional to how many times your tracks were streamed versus total streams on the platform. This is called the pro-rata model.

Free · No Signup

Multi-Platform Royalty Calculator

Calculate streaming royalties across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon Music, and Deezer. Compare distributor fees and see your real artist take.

Monthly Streams

Enter streams per platform to calculate earnings

Number of Streams

Platforms

Select which streaming platforms to include

Distributor

Select your distributor to account for their fee

DistroKid charges a flat annual fee — 0% taken from royalties

Your Split

Adjust if you have a label or co-artist agreement

Your share of recording royalties100%

Total Earnings (6 platforms)

$3,450.00

Mid Estimate

Range: $2,500.00 – $4,400.00

100,000 streams per platform · DistroKid · 100% split

Per-Platform Breakdown

TidalBest platform

$1,050.00

Apple Music

$800.00

Deezer

$450.00

Spotify

$400.00

Amazon Music

$400.00

YouTube Music

$350.00

Tidal pays you the most

Tidal has the highest per-stream rate in your selection (mid: $0.0105/stream). Focus promotion here to maximize royalty income.

Want a personalized strategy? Get your free Spotify audit →

Multi-Platform Earnings$3,450.00

💡 Insights

Tidal pays you the most

At $0.0105/stream, Tidal generates $1,050.00 mid estimate — 3× more than YouTube Music. Focus promotion here to maximize royalty income.

Big gap between platforms

Tidal earns $700.00 more than YouTube Music per 100,000 streams. Shifting even 20% of your promotion budget toward Tidal could meaningfully lift your total royalties.

DistroKid keeps 0% of your royalties

You're on a flat-fee distributor — every dollar calculated above goes to you. As your streams grow, this advantage compounds vs. percentage-based distributors.

🔗 Your Next Step

Music Distribution Comparison Tool

Compare distributors to maximize your per-stream rate

Spotify Royalty Calculator

Deep dive into Spotify-specific earnings

Save to Dashboard Export PDF

How we built this

Methodology, sources, and assumptions behind the calculations.

Go deeper

Spotify Royalty Calculator →Deep-dive into Spotify-specific earnings with distributor and split breakdowns.Music Income Calculator →Calculate total annual income from streaming, touring, and merch.

Free · Revenue Insights · No Card Required

See where you're leaving money on the table

Your earnings data reveals opportunities. Get a free audit to find out exactly where you're losing revenue.

Get My Free Audit

Multi-Platform Royalty Calculator

How we built this

Where do the per-stream rates come from?

Why do rates differ so much between platforms?

How are distributor fees applied?

Does this include publishing royalties?

Go deeper

See where you're leaving money on the table