Guess who pays the least...

How much do Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other platforms pay per stream?

 Well, let me start by clarifying: They don’t really pay “per stream.”

Or rather, there’s no fixed per-stream payout rate (I’ll explain that in a minute). But we’re gonna rank ‘em anyway!

It’s smart to understand how music streaming payouts work — and how they don’t — so you can make strategic decisions.

What’s the best streaming strategy?

For under-the-radar musicians, my general advice is to treat streaming as a top-of-funnel engine — a convenient way for listeners to discover your music. But, honestly… forget about the money.

"Wait, isn’t that giving up? Shouldn’t we boycott Spotify for treating us like we don’t matter?"

Here’s my take: Unless you’re pulling huge streaming numbers, it’s Spotify that doesn’t matter. Because Spotify isn’t the heart of your music career. And you can be profitable without streaming.

What SHOULD be at the heart of your music career?

You can build a profitable music career by focusing on:  

• Playing incredible shows
  
• Building your email list with irresistible lead magnets
  
• Nurturing your fan relationships through compelling emails
  
• Driving traffic to your website and store
  
• Offering great merch
  
  

That stuff — not streaming — is the real party you’re hosting. Streaming is just the welcome sign at the front door.

I thought streaming was good for the music biz!

Sure, streaming revolutionized the music industry. Streaming royalties contribute a huge slice of overall industry revenue. But what’s good for the industry isn’t always good for you, the individual artist.

If you’re a working musician with monthly stream counts in the thousands, hundreds, or dozens, whether you earn fractions of a penny or a full cent per stream, we’re talking peanuts either way.

Example: I once had a 50/50 collab track with a couple million streams. My half wouldn’t have even covered one month’s rent.

Now, if you could generate that volume every month, that’s when streaming numbers and payout rates start to matter. And though it’s rarely effective to try to change fans’ listening habits, that’s when you might begin focusing marketing efforts toward certain platforms over others.

What streaming actually pays

Streaming royalty rates aren’t fixed — they fluctuate based on several factors:

• Listener Account Type: Premium vs. free-tier users
  
• Geographic Region: Payouts vary by country
  
• Copyright Agreements: Your deal with labels or distributors matters
  
• Royalty Distribution Model: Market-share vs. user-centric models
  
  

Also, you’re not technically being paid “per stream.” Most platforms throw all the money into a big revenue pool, take a cut for operating costs, and then pay out the rest to rights holders (labels, publishers, etc.) based on your share of total streams.

This is called pro-rata, meaning “in proportion to.” You get paid in proportion to your share of total streams in a payment period, not per individual stream.

Where the money comes from

There are two primary sources of streaming revenue:

1. Subscriptions (Premium Users): Main source of income

 Example: On Spotify, only 42% of users are premium, but they account for 90% of total revenue.

2. Advertising (Free Users): Majority of listeners, but contribute far less revenue

 Example: On Spotify, 58% of users are free-tier, generating only 10% of revenue

 This is why premium streams pay more than free-tier streams.

Royalties: Pro-Rata vs. User-Centric

The two primary payment models for streaming revenue are:

• Pro-Rata / Market Share: Used by Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. All revenue goes into a “pool,” and payments are made proportionally to your share of total streams.
  
  
• Example: If your song represents 2% of all streams on Spotify for the month, you receive 2% of the revenue pool.
  
  
• User-Centric: Each listener’s subscription fee is divided only among the artists they listened to. Fairer, but less widely adopted.
  
  
• Example: If a subscriber pays $10/month and only listens to Weird Al Yankovic, Weird Al gets $10 — minus the service’s cut.
  
  

Average payouts “per stream” (2025)

A few caveats before we dive in:

• There is no true “per stream” rate; these are rough averages
  
• Payouts vary by geography, user type, and subscriber volume
  
• Subscriber counts and revenue can change rapidly
  
• These figures are guideposts, not hard stats; I’m not a journalist, mathematician, or lawyer
  
  

Streaming Payouts: Best to Worst (2025)

Quick Takeaways:

• Highest payers: Napster, Qobuz, and TIDAL — great rates, if you can find anybody using them. 
  
  
• Best balance of pay + reach: Apple Music — solid payouts and big listener base.
  
  
• Bigger reach, weaker pay: Spotify and YouTube — but unbeatable for discovery.
  
  
• Hidden gems: Deezer and SoundCloud’s user-centric models pay based on individual listener behavior — fairer to smaller artists, but still limited by scale.
  
  
• Bottom line: If you’re making serious streaming money, it’s because you’re racking up serious streams — not because of a generous per-stream rate.
  
  

When it comes to value, there’s another key point: reach.

Yes, a million Spotify streams might earn up to $3,000, while Apple Music could pay closer to $8,000.

But Spotify’s massive audience and algorithmic ecosystem often turn that same stream count into greater visibility — even if the payout per stream is lower.

Should I just ignore streaming?

Streaming probably won’t make you rich, so don’t pretend it’s the main event. 

But it does still put your music in front of new ears. So think of it as the polite door greeter at your house party — not the star of the show, but worth letting do its thing while you focus on the real money-makers: owning your rights, selling merch, playing shows, and actually communicating with your email list.

That way you’ll have a lifelong connection to fans who’ll stick around long after the algorithms forget you.