Ask ten artists how much a stream pays and you will hear ten different numbers. They are all telling the truth about their own reports, and none of them is quoting a price, because most major platforms do not have one.
There is no fixed price per stream
A shop sells a song for a set price. Subscription streaming works differently. The listener pays a monthly fee (or listens with ads), and that money goes into a common pot together with everyone else's. Your share of the pot depends on how much of the total listening your music accounted for.
So the "rate per stream" people talk about is a result, calculated after the fact: the money your track earned divided by the number of streams. It is useful for comparing your own months, but it is not a tariff anyone promised you.
How the pool is usually split
The most common model is called pro-rata. Simplified, it works like this:
- A platform collects revenue in a market for a period: subscription fees and advertising income.
- It keeps its own share and sets the rest aside for rights holders.
- It counts all the streams in that market for that period.
- Each track receives a slice of the rights holders' money equal to its share of all streams.
- That slice goes to whoever delivered the recording (a label or distributor) and, separately, to those who represent the songwriters.
Because both the money and the total number of streams change every month, the value of one stream changes too. Some platforms have been testing other models or adding thresholds and rules about which streams count. These rules change, so check each platform's current terms rather than relying on an old blog post.
Why your rate goes up and down
Even under one model, many things move the number.
- Country. Subscription prices and ad revenue differ a lot from one country to another. A stream from a market with expensive subscriptions usually brings in more than one from a market with cheap ones.
- Paid or free. Streams from paying subscribers generally carry more money than streams on ad-supported free tiers.
- Platform. Each service has its own prices, its own audience and its own agreements with rights holders.
- The month. If the whole platform streams more in a given month while revenue stays flat, each stream is worth a little less.
- Currency. Reports are often calculated in one currency and paid in another, so exchange rates add their own small swing.
- Your deal. What reaches you depends on the agreement between you and whoever delivers your music.
This is why two artists with the same number of streams can see very different totals. One may have listeners mostly in markets with high subscription prices, the other mostly on free tiers.
Picture two made-up artists. Mara Vale has fewer streams, but most of them come from paying listeners in countries where subscriptions are expensive. Jonah Reed has twice as many streams, mostly from free tiers. Their totals may end up surprisingly close, and neither report contains a mistake.
Remember the two sides of a song
Most of the above is about the recording, the master side. Songwriters are paid separately for the composition, usually through authors' societies and publishers. If you write your own songs, registering as a writer is how you reach that second stream of money. It does not appear in your distribution reports, and it will not find you on its own.
Reading your own numbers
Instead of chasing an average rate from the internet, look at your own data over several periods. Note which countries and platforms bring the most streams, and how the money per stream compares between them. In the CULT dashboard, streams by platform and country appear each reporting period once partner reports are checked, and every report shows its source and period. That makes it easier to compare like with like.
Reports also arrive with a delay. Platforms close a period first, then pass the data down the chain, so the streams from a good week will show up later, not the next morning.
Questions artists often ask
Why did my rate drop when my streams went up?
Often because the new listeners came from a different country or a free tier. More streams at a lower average can still mean more money in total. Compare total earnings, not just the average.
Is a stream on one platform worth the same as on another?
Usually not. Prices, audiences and agreements differ, so look at each platform separately.
Can I calculate my income in advance?
Only roughly. Your past reports show a range, but any forecast depends on where and how people listen to you next month.