Streaming Royalty Rates

There is no fixed per-stream rate, and anyone quoting one is simplifying

Streaming services do not pay a set amount per play. Each platform pools its subscription and advertising revenue for a period, takes its share, and divides the rest among rights holders in proportion to their share of total streams. Your payout therefore moves with things that have nothing to do with your song: which country the listener is in, whether they pay for a subscription or listen free, how many total streams the platform served that month, and what it earned. The same track can pay noticeably different amounts in two consecutive months without anything about the track changing.

Revenue is pooled and divided by stream share — it is not a per-play price list. A stream from a paid subscriber in a high-price market is worth more than a free-tier stream. Rates move month to month with platform revenue and total listening volume

The estimates LUCY uses, and where they come from

The figures below are the per-stream averages behind the LUCY royalty calculator. They are estimates drawn from observed independent-artist payouts, not rates published by the platforms — no major streaming service publishes an official per-stream rate, because under a revenue-pooled model there isn't one to publish. Treat them as planning figures with a wide margin, not as amounts you are owed. We date them so you can judge how stale they are.

Tidal — approximately $0.013 per stream, the highest of the major services. Apple Music — approximately $0.008 per stream. Deezer — approximately $0.0064 per stream. Spotify — approximately $0.0044 per stream, the most-quoted figure in the industry. Amazon Music — approximately $0.004 per stream. YouTube Music — approximately $0.003 per stream, lowest per play but the largest reach. Figures as used by the LUCY calculator, September 2026

What these numbers mean in practice

Run the arithmetic before you build expectations on it. A million Spotify streams at roughly $0.0044 is somewhere near $4,400 for the recording side — and that is the gross figure before any split with co-writers, producers or a label, and before publishing royalties are counted separately. Most independent artists find that streaming is one income line among several rather than the main one, and that the useful question is not how to raise the per-stream rate, which you cannot, but how much of the total you are actually collecting.

A million streams on Spotify is roughly $4,400 on the recording side, before splits. Publishing royalties are generated by the same streams and collected separately. Higher-paying platforms usually have smaller audiences — reach and rate trade off

Why the platform mix matters more than the headline rate

Because rates differ several-fold between services, where your listeners are matters as much as how many you have. Tidal pays roughly three times what YouTube Music does per play, but reaches a fraction of the audience. There is no single right answer: distributing everywhere and letting listeners choose is almost always better than chasing a rate, because a stream on a low-paying platform still pays more than a stream that never happened.

Distribute to every platform rather than optimising for the highest rate. Audience location affects payout as much as platform choice does. Use the calculator to model your own mix instead of relying on one headline number

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Spotify pay per stream in 2026?
There is no official rate. Spotify pools revenue and divides it by stream share, so the effective amount changes with listener country, subscription tier and total platform activity. The commonly cited average sits around $0.0044 per stream, which is the figure the LUCY calculator uses, but treat it as a planning estimate with a wide margin rather than a price. Two artists with identical stream counts can be paid materially different amounts.
Which streaming service pays the most per stream?
Of the major services, Tidal pays the most per play at roughly $0.013, followed by Apple Music at around $0.008 and Deezer at about $0.0064. Spotify sits near $0.0044 and YouTube Music lowest at roughly $0.003. The ranking is misleading on its own though: the highest-paying services have the smallest audiences, so total earnings usually track reach more closely than rate.
Why did my payout change when my streams didn't?
Because the rate is derived, not fixed. If platform revenue fell, or total streams across the service rose, or more of your listening came from free-tier or lower-price markets, your share of the pool shrinks even with identical play counts. This is normal and is not an error by your distributor. It is also why any calculator, including ours, gives a range rather than a promise.
Do these rates include publishing royalties?
No. Every figure here is the recording (master) side only. The same streams also generate mechanical and performance royalties on the composition, collected separately through a PRO and a publishing administrator. Songwriters who never register frequently leave that entire second income stream unclaimed, and it is not small.
Are these rates official?
No, and be sceptical of anyone who says theirs are. No major streaming service publishes a per-stream rate, because a revenue-pooled model does not have one. Every figure you will find online, including ours, is an estimate derived from observed payouts. We publish the numbers our own calculator uses, dated, so you can see exactly what you are comparing against.