Questions and concerns about artist streaming income have been around for over a decade. Since launching Loud & Clear in 2021, we’ve aimed to bring clarity and transparency around this topic to the artist community. This site is intended to answer key questions, share useful resources, and foster constructive conversations about the music streaming economy and Spotify’s role in it. We’re currently the only streaming service that shares this level of royalty data, and we hope others will join the conversation as well.
Your Questions, Answered
We know you have a ton of questions around music-streaming economics, and we want to make sure you get the answers. We’ve included the questions we receive most frequently from artists and will continue to add to this list as more questions come in.
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What’s new on Loud & Clear this year?
On March 12, 2025, we updated Loud & Clear with:
- 2024 royalty data across the entire site
- A new set of Top 10 Takeaways at the top of the site to summarize all the data
- More detail in the Revenue Generation Over the Years section
Wasn’t the music industry better off before streaming?
No. Spotify plays a leading role in a healthier music industry as a sort of radio station and record store all rolled into one — but without their limitations.
With radio, artists can reach lots of listeners. However, there’s limited space in a radio station’s rotation of songs, making it harder for artists to break through. And in some markets, not all artists are compensated for their music being played.
Artists benefit from a high purchase price in record stores, but physical and digital sales don’t generate money from all of an artist’s fans — only those willing to spend money to download tracks or purchase a full album. And again, there is the issue of limited space – not all artists are able to have their CDs or vinyls on a shelf in a physical record store.
Spotify solves these challenges with streaming. Streaming is where fans come to put their favorite artists on repeat, but it’s also where casual fans discover new music or rediscover old favorites. And revenue is generated from both types of listening —(1) from fans who pay for Spotify Premium, and (2) from advertisers that fund Spotify’s Free tier. (We have over 250M Premium subscribers, and more than 60% of first-time subscribers start out on the Free tier and then later upgrade.)
When Spotify launched in 2008, the global recording industry was being ravaged by piracy — spiraling downward from 1999’s peak of over $24 billion in revenue to the industry’s low point in 2014, when the combined market of physical and digital sales was $13 billion.
Since then, streaming has powered the resurgence of the music industry. Spotify’s all-time payouts to music rights holders now stand at nearly $60 billion.
When you consider the growth of the overall royalty pool paid out to rights holders and the expanding number of artists succeeding thanks to streaming, we believe the future is incredibly bright for artists’ careers. The IFPI’s* 2025 report showed that the global recorded music industry in 2024 had far surpassed the 1999 peak, — having reached $29.6 billion as an industry.
*All statements on this website attributable to IFPI represent Spotify’s interpretation of data, research opinion, or viewpoints published as part of the IFPI Global Music Report in March 2025 and have not been reviewed by IFPI. Each IFPI publication speaks as of its original publication date and not as of the date of this report (March 19, 2025).
Is streaming only helping music’s biggest stars?
No, streaming benefits far more than the biggest stars. Based on our analysis of RIAA data, the music industry in the CD era favored superstars twice as much as it does today. Unlike the CD era, when the top 50 artists drove nearly 25% of U.S. sales, they now account for only 13% of U.S. streams on Spotify — meaning that today, revenue opportunities reach far beyond the superstars.
In 2024, over 71,000 artists earned at least $10,000 from Spotify alone, and between 2017 and 2024, the 10,000th-ranked artist on Spotify has seen their royalties increase from $34K to $131K. Meanwhile, over 80% of the nearly 1,500 artists earning $1 million on Spotify never had a song in our Top 50 chart.
Streaming has fundamentally changed the music ecosystem, lowering barriers to entry for artists of all levels and democratizing access to audio for listeners across the world. Artists no longer need to be superstars with access to big budgets to create, distribute, and amplify their music globally.
Ok, but is it just artists in a handful of markets who are benefiting?
No, streaming has lowered barriers to entry for artists around the world, and the growing impact on artists’ livelihoods worldwide is becoming clearer over time. In 2024, the artists generating at least $100K in royalties collectively represented music in over 50 languages — more than double the number of languages at that threshold in 2017. The artists generating at least $1 million on Spotify collectively represent music in 17 different languages — also up more than double since 2017. Artists who in the past might have struggled to break through are now finding their audiences, and the music industry today is a more diverse and accurate reflection of the world we live in.
There are millions of artist profiles on Spotify, yet only a small fraction are generating money. Shouldn’t a higher percentage of all artists on Spotify be making money? Aren’t there 10 million of them?
We’re focused on creating opportunities for emerging and professional artists to make a living from their work. Success looks different for every artist, and not all those who release music on Spotify are pursuing a career as an artist — in fact, the vast majority are not.
It’s true that nearly 12 million people have at least one song on Spotify — but just like uploading a video or two to YouTube doesn’t mean that person is trying to be a professional YouTuber, releasing a few songs on Spotify doesn’t indicate a career in music. For example, of the almost 12 million people who have at least one song on Spotify, nearly 8 million of them have released fewer than 10 tracks all-time. Many of these artists are likely early in their careers, hobbyists, or may not be leveraging streaming as part of their career paths.
We estimate that there are around 225,000 emerging or professional recording acts globally. We see this in Spotify data: 235,000 artists have released at least 10 songs all-time (meaning they have a body of work to earn from) and average at least 10,000 monthly listeners (meaning they have been able to attract an initial audience). We also see this through our integrations with Bandsintown, Ticketmaster, and dozens of other live and virtual ticketing partners: 210,000 artists had any gig, event, or virtual event listed at some point during 2023, demonstrating commercial activity outside of streaming.
That data suggests a population of between 210,000 and 235,000 artists, but to account for a margin of error in our methodology, we consider 225,000 to be a reasonable estimate — though of course we acknowledge the difficulty in assuming any artist’s professional intent just from data.
Based on this estimate, you could calculate that more than 30% of professional or professionally aspiring artists generated $10,000 in 2024 from Spotify alone (and likely over $40,000 across all recorded revenue sources).
I heard Spotify pays a fraction of a penny per stream. Is that true?
In the streaming era, fans do not pay per song, so we don’t believe a “per stream” rate is a meaningful number to analyze. Spotify, like every major streaming service, pays royalties based on an artist’s share of overall streams across the platform. We call this “streamshare.”
Spotify is focused on maximizing the total size of the payments we are able to make to rights holders — those that pay artists and songwriters — and the data on this site reflects our progress. We pay out more than any other streaming service; in fact, Spotify paid the music industry more money than ever in 2024: $10B+. That figure has more than tripled over the past seven years and represents a big part of the nearly $60B Spotify has paid since its founding.
And our incentives are aligned with artists: The more revenue we generate, the more payouts for artists. Along with every major streaming service, we pay out roughly two-thirds of every dollar we generate from music back to artists’ and songwriters’ rights holders.
Still, we understand that artists find it useful to calculate an effective “per stream” rate — dividing the total size of the royalty pool on Spotify by the total number of music streams on Spotify. We dig into that in the “Why does the ‘per-stream rate’ appear lower for Spotify than some other streaming services?” question on this page.
Our model drives more fan engagement and generates revenue from more places, which means larger total checks from Spotify to rights holders. That’s why we pay more than any other service. We make some choices that decrease the effective “per-stream rate,” but we believe we are maximizing overall revenue and generating the most possible money for rights holders and their artists and songwriters.
If an artist has millions of streams, why don’t they earn more?
Spotify has been around for more than 15 years. We now have more than 650 million listeners who are streaming more songs per month than ever before, which means the activity on the platform increases exponentially.
Streaming services pay based on streamshare, not a per-stream rate. So as the total number of streams on the platform increases, so does the number of streams required to generate a certain amount in royalties. (Though the royalty pool grows, too: In 2024, if an artist received 1 in every 1 million streams on Spotify, they generated around $10,000 on average, compared to only $1,000 10 years ago.)
Because of the growth of streaming and the increase in engagement per user, the meaning of “a million streams” has changed over the years — lots of tracks are reaching a million streams, and more often than you’d think. In fact, 1,340,000 songs have now surpassed a million streams, and 357,000 songs received a million streams in 2024 alone. That’s up from 281,000 songs in 2022. 850 songs reached a billion streams by the end of 2024. To get a better sense of the Spotify ecosystem, you can play around with the interactive tool on this site, which reflects data as of December 2024.
Why does the “per-stream rate” appear lower for Spotify than some other streaming services?
In the streaming era, fans do not pay per song, and no major streaming service pays per stream, so we don’t believe that a “per-stream rate” is a meaningful number to analyze. All streaming services pay essentially the same way: Around two-thirds of music revenue is paid back to rights holders based on their streamshare.
So, if every service pays out the same way, why is the average payout per stream different for each service?
The calculation is simple: Total payouts ÷ total streams = the “per-stream rate.”
So if users of a service don’t stream very much, the “per-stream rate” is higher. But the problem is that streaming more means people like the product and will continue to pay for music (and drive streams and money to a wider array of artists). If you stream very little, you are less likely to continue being a Premium subscriber, which means less money for artists.
Spotify offers the most engaging service where users stream more each month. That’s why Spotify has been able to grow its subscriber base and have the highest total payouts by far: $10B+ in 2024, up 10x from a decade ago. Everyone in the industry should want more streams per user as opposed to less.
Building a service that inspires listeners to stream lots and lots of music each month decreases the effective “per-stream rate” on Spotify but increases total payouts. We believe artists care more about a larger paycheck than a higher “per-stream rate.”
How do artists and songwriters get paid?
Spotify doesn’t pay artists or songwriters directly.
Spotify primarily makes money for music from two sources: Spotify Premium subscribers and advertisers that support Spotify’s Free tier. Approximately two-thirds of this money is paid out to music rights holders in what is called the “royalty pool.”
Spotify allocates that royalty pool based on each rights holder’s streamshare on Spotify. This money is not divvied up based on a fixed amount per stream, because Premium subscribers do not pay per stream; they pay a subscription fee that grants them unlimited access to all of the music on Spotify. For example, in 2024, if an artist received 1 in every 1 million streams on Spotify, that generated around $10,000 on average.
For more, we encourage you to check out the following videos: How the Money Flows, and How the Money Flows (Publishing Edition).
Why doesn’t Spotify just charge listeners more?
Spotify persuaded listeners to pay a set monthly price for music, shifting fans away from piracy. The cost of a subscription is not an insignificant amount for many. Raising prices is a delicate balance — we don’t want to drive people back to piracy or unmonetized solutions. In fact, the average adult spending money on music today is spending nearly double compared to during the peak CD era in 1999, and millions more people are spending.
That said, Spotify is always evaluating pricing in each of our markets so that we can keep innovating in changing market conditions. We’ve recently increased pricing in a number of them across our different Premium subscription plans. Since Spotify and artists’ rights holders share the same pool of money, our incentives are totally aligned: We both want to generate as much revenue from listeners and advertisers as possible.
Should the numbers you’re presenting around artists’ revenues be much higher?
We’re focused on growing the total amount of money Spotify pays to artists and songwriters via their rights holders, so the data on this site focuses on one revenue source: Spotify royalties. We expect the growth rates shown on this site to continue. For example, the number of artists generating over $100,000 per year has grown by over 190% from 2017 to 2024. And, Spotify royalties are powering artists’ careers at all stages. In 2024, more than 71,000 artists generated $10,000+ (up from 23,400 in 2017). 12,500 generated $100,000+ (up from 4,300 in 2017). And nearly 1,500 artists generated over $1 million (up from 460 in 2017).
Spotify is just one of several music streaming services, representing nearly a quarter of all global recorded revenue. That means you can multiply Spotify revenues on Loud & Clear by at least four to estimate what each artist might be generating across all recorded revenue sources.
The numbers on this site also do not account for revenue generated from touring, merch, or other sources. And, Spotify can provide a multiplier effect — fanbases built via Spotify can be monetized by artists and their teams through these other revenue streams.
You shared that an artist’s Spotify royalties can be multiplied by four to estimate total music revenue. Is that really true?
Most of the data on Loud & Clear focuses on what an artist has generated on Spotify alone. To get a fuller picture of what an artist might have generated across all revenue streams, there are three ways to think about it:
Streaming (3x): Spotify represents about a third of global revenue generated from all streaming services. An individual artist’s proportion may vary based on their genre, fanbase, and marketing strategies, but on average, you can multiply Spotify royalties by roughly three to estimate what an artist may have generated across all streaming services. So $100,000 from Spotify might be $300,000 from streaming overall.
Recorded Revenue (4x): Based on IFPI data, Spotify represents roughly 25% of global recorded revenue. Recorded revenue means all the money generated from the music recording itself — including streaming, physical sales (CDs, vinyl), sync, performance rights, and digital downloads. Again, an individual artist’s proportion of Spotify revenue can vary, but on average, you can multiply Spotify royalties by roughly four to estimate how much an artist might have generated across all global recorded revenue. So $100,000 from Spotify might be $400,000 in total recorded revenue.
Total Revenue: The figures shared on this site also do not account for nonrecorded revenue streams — like concerts, merch, brand sponsorships, and more. These revenue streams are additional to recorded revenue and can vary in size.
How is streamshare calculated?
Every month, in each country where we operate, we calculate streamshare by determining how many times music from a specific rights holder was streamed, then dividing it by the total number of streams in that market.
For example, if an artist’s music accounts for 1 in every 1,000 streams on Spotify in Mexico, their rights holder or distributor receives one of every $1,000 from Mexico’s royalty pool. The total royalty pool in each market is based on the subscription and music advertising revenues generated there.
In 2024, if an artist’s music accounts for 1 in every 1 million streams on Spotify globally, that generated $10,000 on average (compared to $1,000 in 2014).
Would the user-centric model be more fair?
The research we’ve seen to date suggests that a shift to user-centric payments would not benefit artists as much as many may have originally hoped. A study from the National Music Centre (CNM) found that the change would result in “at most a few euros per year on average” for artists outside the top 10,000. That research can be viewed here, and a useful summary of that research can be viewed here.
We are willing to make the switch to a user-centric model if that’s what artists, songwriters, and rights holders want to do. However, Spotify cannot make this decision on its own; it requires broad industry alignment to implement this change.
How is Spotify measuring payouts on this site? Why doesn’t this focus on what artists and songwriters actually take home?
We can only report the data that’s available to us, which is the amount of money generated on Spotify. We would love to report on the money that artists and songwriters take home as a result of their Spotify performance, but we do not have insight into each individual artist’s and songwriter’s agreements with their chosen rights holders.
So the data on this site centers around the royalties generated — for both recording and publishing — for music rights holders. We look at each performing artist on Spotify and are reporting how much was earned across their full catalog for each calendar year.
Spotify doesn’t pay artists or songwriters directly. We pay rights holders selected by the artist or songwriter — whether that’s a record label, publisher, independent distributor, performance rights organization, or collecting society. From here, we encourage you to check out the following videos: How the Money Flows, and How the Money Flows (Publishing Edition).
How can I grow my audience and find success on Spotify?
We want Spotify to be the most effective and valuable place for artists and their teams to grow their fanbases at every stage of their careers. That’s why we’re building new tools for the more than 1 million artists who use Spotify for Artists each month. You can explore Spotify for Artists features here.
The artists who generated at least $100K in royalties on Spotify in 2024 overwhelmingly used Spotify for Artists – over 98% were active during the year, and nearly two-thirds engaged every month. By leveraging Spotify’s tools, these artists are taking control of their careers and fueling the growth of their fanbases.
If you’re looking for specific tips when it comes to releasing new music, we’ve put together this New Releases Guide to help.
How much money does Spotify keep?
Spotify keeps about one-third of the revenue generated from music subscriptions and music advertising on the Free tier — similar to, or even less than, what retailers took in the CD era (35-40%).
How can I put Streaming Numbers in Context for my home market?
The Streaming Numbers in Context section of the site focuses on global figures for the sake of simplicity, but one useful indicator for how local stream counts stack up is to check out your local Spotify Chart. You’ll find that the number of streams it takes to chart in different territories around the world can vary quite a bit. For example, what it takes to chart in Malaysia and Bulgaria can look pretty different from Australia and Mexico. Also, through Spotify for Artists, artists can view the geographic breakdown of their listeners (by city and by country) in the Audience tab of their dashboards.
Why don’t songs with fewer than 1,000 annual streams earn recording royalties on Spotify anymore?
Our new 2024 royalty policies aim to direct an additional $1 billion to emerging and professional artists over a five-year period.
One of the new policies requires that tracks have at least 1,000 streams in the past year in order to generate recording royalties on Spotify. Spotify makes no additional money under this model, and the policy has no impact on the total size of the music royalty pool paid out by Spotify.
And 99.5% of all streams are of tracks that have at least 1,000 annual streams, and each of those tracks will earn more under this policy.
This policy targets the population of tens of millions of tracks on Spotify that generate only $0.02 per month on average. In the aggregate, these tracks with under 1,000 annual streams represent ~0.5% of total streams (and therefore 0.5% of the total royalty pool). Now that Spotify’s royalty pool has become so large — $10B+ in 2024 alone — 0.5% is a material amount.
Our policy helps ensure that as much money as possible reaches the emerging and professional artists that our platform is built to support. Because labels and distributors require a minimum amount to withdraw (usually $2-$50 per withdrawal), and banks charge a fee for the transaction (usually $1-$20 per withdrawal), these small monthly payments often don’t reach the uploaders.
We believe it’s more impactful for these tens of millions of dollars per year to increase payments to those most dependent on streaming revenue, rather than being spread out in tiny payments that typically don’t even reach an artist.
What impact does artificial streaming have on Spotify royalties?
Spotify’s policy is that when we detect any artificial streams, those streams do not earn royalties.
We invest heavily in detecting, preventing, and removing the royalty impact of artificial streams. We want to ensure that artificial streams have no benefit – and do not create any second-order negative impact on legitimate streams.
In some cases with artificially streamed tracks, you may still see streaming spikes in your private Spotify for Artists data, even though associated royalties have been withheld and public metrics (all-time track stream counts and monthly listener count) have been adjusted. In other cases, we can detect and remove confirmed artificial streams before they reach your Spotify for Artists dashboard — which means you may be informed by your distributor of artificial streaming activity even though the streams aren’t visible in your Spotify for Artists. Either way, the royalty report from your label or distributor is the most accurate source of truth for understanding royalties generated from Spotify streams.
You can read more about artificial streaming here.