How Much Do Music Artists Get Paid From Spotify?

It’s nearly difficult to make a living in today’s music market without uploading your work to streaming services. Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, and other platforms have emerged as the preferred method for millions of music fans to listen to music they can’t get enough of. Sales aren’t going anywhere, but streaming services are a waste of time and money.

As you keep up to date with the latest music news you’ll see that streaming sites have become unavoidable and a requirement for all performances, not all musicians like them. They are packed, it’s difficult to gain traction, and their profit rates are notoriously low. This article will try to address some of the most commonly asked questions about these services and how they pay.

Are you wondering what to do once your song has been uploaded to streaming services? Allow a top-rated Los Angeles music promotion firm to assist you with your decision. 

WON’T I BE PAID EACH TIME SPOTIFY PLAYS MY SONG?

Whether you’re an independent musician or a member of a major label, you’ll almost certainly utilize several significant streaming services to get your material in front of as many people as possible. The most popular and widely used platform today is unquestionably Spotify.

The simple answer to the question above is yes. As long as a song is played for thirty seconds, Spotify considers it a stream, and a per-stream royalty is added to your overall total that will be paid out at a later date. The question is: how much money does an artist make per stream? As we’ll see, this is the most important thing to consider.

There has been a lot of fuss lately from artists who claim they are not being paid enough by Spotify. Many musicians have argued that Spotify’s payments are insufficient. As of 2019, Spotify claimed that it pays between $0.00331 and $0.00437 per stream. However, the money has to be shared among many people. In other words, the payout has to be shared out among the artist’s label (if they have one), their publisher, and a variety of other parties including ASCAP.

Spotify has lately boosted its compensation amount, but not by much. However, this rise still has to be divided among several parties with a financial interest in the work (publishers, writers, etc.).

Splitting the royalties isn’t difficult for an independent artist who owns their masters and the rights to all of their songs; it’s just a matter of getting those streams up promptly. For these reasons, effective marketing and release planning are critical.

To illustrate how small a million is, consider this: To make roughly the average monthly minimum wage, an artist would need roughly 400,000 streams. According to several sources, Spotify will continue to raise payouts as the number of subscribers increases.

WHAT DO ARTISTS NEED TO DO TO SETTLE THEIR ACCOUNTS TO RECEIVE PAYMENTS?

If you’ll be requesting a check, all you need (besides your uploaded music being listened to) is an email address to create an account with TuneCore or DistroKid, to name a few. You’ll need your checking account information, bank card, and sometimes your address if you want to deposit via direct deposit or PayPal.