How to Calculate Your Music Streaming Royalties: Complete Guide

Understanding how much money your music generates on streaming platforms is crucial for any modern musician. Whether you're an independent artist, signed to a label, or a songwriter collecting publishing royalties, knowing your potential earnings helps you plan your career and set realistic goals.

What Are Streaming Royalties?

Streaming royalties are payments made to rights holders every time their music is played on a digital streaming platform. These payments are divided among several parties:

Understanding Master vs. Publishing Royalties

There are two main types of streaming royalties:

Our calculator helps you estimate both types based on your ownership percentages.

How Much Do Streaming Platforms Pay Per Stream?

One of the most common questions we get is "how much does Spotify pay per stream?" The answer varies, but here's a breakdown of average pay-per-stream rates in 2026:

These rates represent what artists typically receive after platform fees.

Spotify's 1,000 Stream Threshold

Spotify requires tracks to reach 1,000 annual streams before generating master royalties. This means:

Our Streaming Royalty Calculator automatically accounts for this threshold.

Using Our Streaming Royalty Calculator

Our free Streaming Royalty Calculator makes it easy to estimate your earnings:

[Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator](/calculators/streaming-royalty) to estimate your earnings now.