Decoding Artist Compensation: Streaming 2024

In 2024, the dynamics of streaming pay per stream rates continue to shape the music industry landscape, influencing artists, record labels, and streaming platforms alike. This article delves into the intricate world of streaming revenue. From Spotify to Apple Music, Deezer to YouTube, each platform’s payout structure undergoes scrutiny as artists navigate the complexities of digital distribution.

With insights into minimum and maximum per stream rates across different countries and subscription tiers, based on a real invoice, this article sheds light on the financial realities faced by musicians in the digital age. 

The Streaming Royalty Reality

Navigating artist royalties has always been intricate, but the advent of the streaming era has elevated it to a formidable challenge, compounded by the array of rates involved.

Delving into the realm of royalty compensation reveals its intricate nature. Beginners can grasp the basics with a quick Royalties 101 or explore deeper insights in “All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald S. Passman – quite thew insightful read. However, for the context of this discussion, let’s refer to “the team” as we’re unsure of the multitude of specificity of Mariah Carey’s royalties.

It’s a remarkable coincidence that we stumbled upon this book, unaware that it was the very same book (albeit a previous edition) that Ben Margulies utilized to draft that fateful contract for Mariah to sign back in the day. Adding to the twist of fate, Donald S. Passman, the author of the book, eventually became Mariah’s lawyer many years later, as per her Memoir.

This collective encompasses not only performing artists (including featured artists) and songwriters but also the label, publishing company, producers, and an extensive list of stakeholders. However, our primary focus lies in dissecting the payment dynamics of each company, rather than dissecting individual shares.

Mariah Carey herself has publicly acknowledged the paltry sums that artists of her stature, who serve as both performers and songwriters, receive from streaming royalties. She states she receives 1/16th of a penny per stream.

Nevertheless, streaming platforms dominate the landscape of music consumption today. Public disclosures from major platforms reveal payments to labels in the billions, a far cry from the simplified 10% that artists used to earn, on average, per CD sale. Times have evolved, and albeit penny by penny, streaming has emerged as the primary source of revenue for artists (excluding sponsorship deals and tours).

Hence, given our current ownership of a modest portion of certain masters and publishing rights, we’ve opted to unveil the breakdown of payments from various sources. Our chosen example is the song “Felicia Lu – Bitch,” and we’ll utilize this invoice to illustrate actual earnings.

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

Digital downloads operate similarly to CD sales, offering a relatively straightforward transaction process. You make the purchase, and the label receives payment (along with everyone else involved).

In our dataset, we’ve gathered data on Amazon and iTunes downloads, both priced at 0.99 USD, yielding the same figure: 0.6035 USD. With a 10% deduction and the remainder divided among the performers, each participant receives a solid 6 cents. Given Mariah’s roles as songwriter, performer, and producer across many of her tracks, her percentage is likely elevated.

STREAMING PLATFORMS

This is where things start to get complicated. While we’ll provide the comprehensive report for those curious, let’s begin by highlighting two key factors that impact these royalties:

a) Country of Origin – Each country has its own set of payout rates. With English-speaking countries like Ireland, the UK, the US, and Canada generally offering the highest rates per stream on most platforms, along with smaller European countries such as Austria and Switzerland. On the other end of the spectrum, countries like Belarus and Turkey appear to have the lowest rates we’ve come across so far. However, many countries fall within a similar range, as you’ll see in the detailed report below.

b) Tier – Most platforms feature various tiers, each offering different payout rates: Ad-supported, Trial (promo), Student, Family Plan, and Premium.

Given the significant variation in payouts, values will be presented as ranges or averages, and in US dollars. So, let’s dive in:

AMAZON

The table outlines the minimum and maximum payouts per stream across different tiers of Amazon’s streaming services and their respective countries. For Amazon ADS, the minimum per stream is approximately 0.00085 in most European countries, while the maximum reaches 0.0015 in the USA. Moving to the Amazon Family Plan, Germany experiences a minimum of 0.00289 per stream, whereas the UK reaches a maximum of 0.00869. 

The data highlights significant disparities in payouts across regions, influenced by subscription tiers and local market dynamics. Similarly, Amazon Prime‘s minimum per stream in India is 0.000879, contrasting sharply with Finland’s 0.0178 maximum per stream, showcasing substantial variation. Amazon Student also displays variability, with Germany at a minimum of 0.0038 and Austria at a maximum of 0.0046 per stream. 

The potential earnings from Amazon per million streams span from $850 to $17,800. This vast range vividly demonstrates the significant impact of both location and subscription tier on income generation.

APPLE MUSIC

The table outlines the range of per-stream payment rates across various subscription tiers and countries within Apple Music’s streaming service. It reflects significant diversity in earnings, with rates spanning from 0.00033 to 0.0186 per stream. Turkey consistently appears as the country with the lowest minimum rates across multiple subscription tiers, while Switzerland emerges with the highest maximum rates in the Apple Family and Apple Student categories. 

Notably, the Netherlands boasts the highest maximum rate overall, reflecting considerable variance in payment structures across different regions and subscription types within the Apple Music platform. So with Apple platform, we can verify a range income per million streams of 330$-18600$. 

AWA

AWA, a Japanese streaming service, operates exclusively in Japan with a flat per-stream rate of $0.00427. With no tiered subscription system, all users hail from Japan, ensuring a focused audience for artists. Earnings from one million streams on AWA total $4270.

DEEZER

The table illustrates the per-stream rates for Deezer across different subscription types and regions. Deezer’s ad-supported streams maintain a uniform minimum rate of 0.0008 across all countries, although specific data for the maximum per stream is unavailable. Deezer Bundle streams also show consistency at 0.0008, with maximum rates reaching 0.007, though the sample size for these figures is small. In contrast, Deezer Premium streams range from 0.0002922 in Ukraine to a considerably higher 0.0473 in Austria, indicating significant variability in payment rates based on subscription levels and geographical location.

Repeating the same formula, we can see the range per one million streams between 292$-47300$

Despite initial impressions suggesting Deezer’s dominance in the streaming realm in terms of payouts, it’s essential to reconsider. Only a single stream commanded a value of 0.0473, with the majority significantly lower in value. Furthermore, Deezer boasts a considerably smaller subscription audience compared to other platforms, a factor we will delve into shortly.

PANDORA

Regarding Pandora, our audience was exclusively from the US, yielding a per-stream rate of 0.0041. Consequently, accruing one million streams on Pandora would translate to earnings of $4100. However, it’s worth noting the platform’s limited audience reach, which remains relatively low.