Streams to dollars, across every platform.
Plug in stream count, pick platforms, choose your distributor + split. Get the low / mid / high earnings range across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Amazon, Deezer.
The scenario
The math, sources, and assumptions.
The data behind this calculator: what streaming platforms pay per stream
Last updated:
As of August 2026, on-demand streaming platforms pay artists roughly $0.002 to $0.013 per stream. Tidal and Apple Music sit at the top of the range, Spotify pays $0.003 to $0.005, and YouTube Music's blended rate is dragged down by ad-supported listening; radio-style Pandora plays sit below the on-demand band. The full per-platform table the calculator uses is published below.
| Platform | Consensus range | Measured 2024 (Duetti) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidal | $0.008 to $0.013 | $0.0068 | Highest consensus range; Duetti's measured 2024 average was notably lower. Contested between sources. |
| Apple Music | $0.006 to $0.01 | $0.0062 | Highest-paying platform with meaningful scale. |
| Deezer | $0.003 to $0.006 | $0.0048 | Artist-centric payment system (live since 2023) pays professional artists a higher effective rate. |
| Amazon Music | $0.003 to $0.005 | $0.0088 | Duetti's 2024 measured average ran above the consensus range; tier mix (Unlimited vs Prime) drives the spread. |
| Spotify | $0.003 to $0.005 | $0.003 | Largest pool by volume. US-only averages run near $0.004. |
| YouTube Music | $0.002 to $0.005 | $0.0048 | Ad-supported listening drags the blended average down; premium-tier streams pay several times more. |
| Pandora | $0.001 to $0.0032 | $0.0032 | US-centric; radio-style plays pay under on-demand rates. |
| SoundCloud | $0.0025 to $0.004 | not covered | Single-source estimate (standard monetized plays); fan-powered royalties vary per listener. |
Methodology
Worked examples
An artist with 100,000 Spotify streams in a month, self-released through a flat-fee distributor with no label split.
100,000 streams at $0.003 to $0.005 per stream equals $300 to $500 for the month, before publishing royalties (collected separately through a publishing administrator and a PRO).
The same 100,000 streams happening on Apple Music instead.
100,000 streams at $0.006 to $0.010 equals $600 to $1,000, roughly double Spotify's payout for identical volume.
A track that earned 900 streams in the last 12 months on Spotify.
Below the 1,000-stream monetization threshold, so those streams earn $0 from the recorded-music royalty pool until the rolling 12-month count crosses 1,000.
Spotify's own Loud and Clear report (2025 data) puts total royalties paid at $11 billion for the year, with 13,800+ artists earning $100,000 or more and roughly half of royalties flowing to independent artists and labels. Per-country Spotify rates are covered in the Chartlex country-by-country royalty guide at /blog/money/spotify-royalty-rates-by-country-2026.
No streaming platform publishes an official per-stream rate; payouts are a share of a monthly revenue pool, so every figure here is a backward-looking average. Ranges are market-consensus estimates cross-checked across TuneCore, Royalty Exchange (Jul 2026), and PlaylistSupply; the measured column is the Duetti Music Economics Report (distributor statement data, 2024 period). Actual payout depends on listener country, subscription tier, and rights splits.
Changelog
- 2026-08-20Full payout reference table published on this page; ranges re-verified against Royalty Exchange (Jul 2026), TuneCore, PlaylistSupply, and the Duetti Music Economics Report; added Pandora and SoundCloud rows and Spotify's official Loud and Clear 2025 figures.