Royalties Streams Calculator.
Streaming calculator
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Spotify
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Deezer
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Pandora
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Apple Music
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Amazon Music
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Tidal
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Our music royalty calculator determines
how much you could earn on the
different streaming platforms.
From Spotify to Deezer, Apple Music,
Amazon Music,
Tidal and Pandora.
The music industry has grown tremendously in the last few decades. It has gone from selling physical copies like CD's to playing music on streaming services.
This transformation provides global exposure for independent artists, but they also have to deal with issues of royalty streaming rates.
This article is to help you understand how much you can earn from royalties and how to collect the royalties you own as an artist.
Background
The music industry is not the same as it used to be. This is because when it comes to listening to music, everything changed with the appearance of Napster in the early 1999, iTunes in 2003, and later Spotify in 2006.
There are about 400 million people using Spotify, and out of those, 252 million are paying not for even it. through That with is the other big yet! But crowd with and all that is music just fans from jumping onto streaming streaming platform services and there we is still a big issue facing the industry: music royalties. But first of all, let’s define what kind of streaming platforms there are...
What Are Music Streaming Royalties?
Music streaming royalties are payments made to rights holders. Royalties are paid by the music streaming platforms like Spotify, Deezer, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and others. You are entitled to streaming royalties when your music is played on these platforms.
Royalties are divided into two main categories:
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Master Recording Royalties: These are paid to the owner of the sound recording, often the artist or record label. They are usually called mechanical royalties.
Mechanical royalties are earned every time your music is reproduced or distributed, including streamed on a streaming platform. In the digital age, every stream counts as a reproduction, generating earnings for the master rights holder. The more streams played, the more royalties you'll get. -
Performance Royalties: Paid to the songwriter or the lyricist and their publisher for the composition.
Performance royalties are generated whenever your music is played publicly. For streaming platforms, this includes when listeners worldwide access your music. Performance Rights Organizations (PROs), such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC in the U.S., or PRS for Music in the UK, collect these royalties on behalf of artists and songwriters. Each stream generates fractions of a cent, but with many repeating plays, it can add up significantly to nice amounts.
What Are Music Streaming Royalties?
Streaming platforms use a pro-rata system to distribute royalty payments. Here's how it works:
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Revenue Pool: Each streaming platform earns money from its users and advertisers. Subscription payment is collected from premium accounts; advertising usually comes from free accounts.
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Allocation: A percentage of this earnings is divided and shared with the mechanical rights holders, usually songwriters and mechanical rights holders.
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Pro-Rata Share: The total streams on the platform determine the value of a single stream. Your earnings are then calculated based on the proportion of total streams your tracks receive.
For example, if Spotify's monthly revenue pool is $1 billion and your song garners 1% of total streams, your share would be $10 million before deductions for platform fees, distributor cuts, and other factors that might affect your royalties. Because there are many factors to consider, it's hard to determine precisely how much royalty your song is generated, but there's an average price per stream; the cost per stream is changed on each platform.
How Much Do Artists Earn Per Stream?
Figuring out how much Spotify pays per stream isn't as simple as it seems.
The payout depends on a ton of factors, like the "pay-per-stream" rate, which varies by different factors, including countries and type of listener subscription model.
To make things harder, most platforms do not openly share how much they pay per stream. Frustrating, right? On top of that, payouts differ depending on whether you're an indie artist, self-releasing, or signed to a major label.
Spotify
By now, you're probably wondering: how much do artists make from Spotify streams, considering it's the biggest streaming platform out there?
You can check out your results on the Spotify royalty calculator above, but on average, Spotify pays about $0.0035 per stream. In other words, millions of streams would generate estimated earnings of $3,500—that's not a lot.
Apple Music
Apple Music pays about $0.01 per stream, which is a lot more than Spotify—great news if you've got a solid fan base there!
One big reason is Apple Music doesn't offer a free subscription option like Spotify, only a paid subscription, so they can afford to pay artists more.
The catch? Apple Music generates fewer streams in general, with about 80 million users compared to Spotify's massive audience. So, while you might earn more per stream on Apple Music, the total number of streams you get there could be lower than on Spotify.
YouTube Music
Every music distributor sends your music to different streaming platforms, including YouTube.
With that being said, YouTube's payout per view is between $0.001 and $0.002 per stream. That isn't great; it's even lower than Spotify.
On the other hand, YouTube tends to generate more streams and views, so it might even generate more royalties than Spotify.
Pandora
Pandora is one of the oldest music streaming services, and unlike the other on-demand streaming services, it works similar to an on-demand internet radio station.
It plays songs based on certain traits that match the music you like or the genres you've chosen. The goal is to introduce you to new tunes that sound similar to what you already enjoy.
With 66 million users, Pandora is growing, but the payout is pretty low—around $0.0013. The reason? Since it's non-interactive, listeners can skip songs, but they can't pick exactly what they want to hear.
Tidal
Many people know Tidal as one of the services that provides higher rewards than other streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music. The platform is artist-friendly and is known for paying artists fairly. Tidal pays, on average, $0.012 to $0.015 per stream, which is much higher than Spotify and other platforms.
As one of its characteristics, Tidal has an artist-first approach. With its subscription model, users are paying for high-quality audio streams, and this directly benefits artists. Tidal also provides promotion opportunities through its "Tidal Rising" program for emerging artists to come through.
Though Tidal may not have as many users as Spotify or Apple Music, its focus on artist compensation and high-quality streams makes it a good choice for independent musicians in order to receive the best return from digital music platforms.
How Much Do Artists Earn Per Stream?
What factors affect streaming royalties share?
1. Streaming Services Payouts
Each streaming service pays different amounts. Apple Music for example, with it's 80 million subscribers, offers the highest royalties per stream payout, an average of $0.01 per stream; that's very high compared to Spotify, which pays the lowest amount of royalties, with an average of $0.003.
2. Listener's Location
The geographic location of your listeners affects your royalty earnings. Every country pays different subscription fees, so streams from countries with higher subscription fees or ad revenue pay more than those with lower rates.
3. Subscription Type
Premium streams generate more royalties than free, ad-supported streams. That makes sense.
If your listeners will all have a premium, encouraging will increase your earnings from streaming.
4. Revenue Splits
Royalties are divided among all rights holders, including the writers, composers, publishers, sub-publishers and labels. Negotiating favorable splits or owning your master can impact your take-home earnings.
Online Royalties Calculator:
A Tool for Artists
An online royalty calculator can help you understand the potential earnings. The calculator allows you to estimate the number of royalties generated from each platform and estimate the payouts from the streaming platform.
Benefits of Using a Royalties Calculator
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Transparency: Understand how much you can expect to earn from streaming.
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Planning: Use the data to set realistic goals for predicting streams and potential income.
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Artist Insights: This can help you focus your marketing efforts if you identify platforms that generate the highest royalties.
Maximizing Your Streaming Royalties
Independent artists often face stiff competition in the streaming arena, but several strategies can help boost your royalties:
1. Build a Loyal Fanbase
Having a dedicated audience is the key to stable streaming earnings. Working with social media, sending newsletters to your fans, and doing live performances can help you increase the streams of your music.
You can also use a Spotify promotion service like One Submit, which can help you get on Spotify playlists and generate more streams and eventually more income from royalties.
2. Optimize Metadata
Make sure you've registered your music with your PRO, Ensure your songs' metadata title, your artist name, and credits are accurate and complete.
Your digital distributor is responsible for delivering the royalties from the streaming services, so make sure everything is properly registered.
3. Distribute Through Reliable Platforms
Choose a distributor that offers competitive rates and transparency. Popular options include DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby.
Read about the best music distribution services available for the independent artist.
These platforms ensure your music is available on all primary streaming services and collect royalties on your behalf.
4. Leverage Playlists
Getting your tracks added to curated playlists can boost your streams. Submit your music to Spotify playlists using our platform, One Submit.
5. Promote Across Channels
Promote your music on social media, YouTube, and through collaborations with other artists to drive traffic to your streaming profiles. Cross-promotion can expand your reach and grow your listener base.
Common Challenges
While streaming offers financial opportunities, it is not that easy to make a living out of streaming royalties; here's why:
1. Low Per-Stream Rates
Earnings per stream are often fractions of a cent. This requires millions of streams to generate substantial income.
2. Complex Royalty Distribution
The royalty process includes music distributors, PROs, publishers, and in some cases sub-publishers, which take a cut from your artist's earnings.
3. Lack of Transparency
Many artists struggle to understand how royalties are calculated and distributed. Detailed royalty statements and clear agreements with your collaborators are important to avoid problems.
The Future Ahead
As streaming continues to grow and become more complex, innovations in the industry are affecting the way streaming royalties are distributed.
1. User-Centric Payment Models
Platforms like SoundCloud, which works in a completely different way than Spotify, Apple Music, and the other streaming platforms, are experimenting with user-centric payment systems, where subscription fees are distributed based on individual listening habits.
This model could provide more equitable payouts for independent artists.
2. Blockchain Technology
Using a decentralized system like blockchain to manage and share artist's royalties can speed things up and benefit the artists by reducing the risk of delayed or missing payments.
With a transparent ledger, intermediaries are minimized, and creators are more likely to receive their money quickly and correctly.
3. Legislative Changes
Lawmakers are aware of the streaming royalty issues and the low returns for independent artists.
New laws like the Music Modernization Act in the U.S. aim to improve and update royalty systems and eventually provide fair compensation for creators. Keeping informed about legal developments can help artists advocate for their rights.
Case Study: Making Streaming Work as an Independent Artist
Consider an independent artist with the following scenario:
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Monthly streams: 500,000 across all platforms
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Platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube
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Ownership: Retains 100% of masters and publishing rights
Using an online royalty calculator, the artist estimates:
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Spotify: $2,000 ($0.0035 per stream)
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Apple Music: $3,750 ($0.0075 per stream)
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YouTube: $750 ( $0.0015 per stream)
Total monthly earnings: $6,500
Yes, getting 500,000 streams is not an easy task; your music needs to be attractive, well-produced, and interesting enough for people to listen to.
With that being said, artists can increase streams and grow their income by focusing on Spotify promotion, social media promotion, TikTok music promotion, and direct engagement with fans.
Final Words
Streaming royalties is another way for artists to generate income from their music. It's nice passive income for independent artists to monetize their musical content.
Royalties can be a bit complex to understand, but once you understand how the system works, you can benefit from the different tools available for you to make a revenue from your music.
The music industry is no different from any other business; you need to invest time and money.