Spotify streaming royalties calculator

A streaming royalty calculator is a tool that estimates how much you could earn from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Just input your stream count and platform details—it gives you a ballpark income figure. Perfect if you’re an independent artist trying to understand your streaming revenue.

Streaming payouts differ by platform—and those differences matter if you’re trying to understand your potential income. On average, Spotify pays around $0.003 to $0.005 per stream, while Apple Music tends to pay more, roughly $0.005 to $0.008 per stream. Amazon Music lands somewhere in the middle at about $0.004 per stream.

On the lower end, YouTube (via ads and Content ID) pays significantly less—often just $0.0007 per stream, which is less than a penny per play. Platforms like Deezer and Tidal can pay higher rates, around $0.0064 for Deezer and up to $0.01284 for Tidal, but they usually have smaller listener bases.

These are just ballpark figures, sourced from industry averages like those shared by Ditto Music. Your exact payout will depend on several factors—keep reading to find out what those are.

Why doesn’t every stream pay the same? Here’s what influences your earnings:

• Listener’s country – Streams from high-revenue countries (like the US or UK) usually pay more.
  

• Subscription type – Premium user streams are worth more than free (ad-supported) ones.
  

• Platform payout models – Most use a “pro-rata” system: all user payments go into one pot, split based on total plays.
  

• Your rights and deal – Are you independent? Signed to a label? Sharing royalties with a producer? These change your final take-home.

Our calculator gives you an estimate—not a guarantee. Real payouts can fluctuate due to all the factors above. Plus, royalty statements might include other income like publishing (mechanicals and performance royalties), which aren’t covered here. Use this tool as a guide, not a final number.

Want to grow your earnings? Here’s how to boost your streams:

• Release music regularly to stay top of mind.
  

• Promote your songs through social media and platforms like Groover—get playlist placements and feedback from curators.
  

• Collaborate with other artists to reach wider audiences.
  

• Make your profiles pop—update your bio, use Spotify Canvas, and encourage followers to save your songs.

Building streams takes work, but with smart promotion and consistent effort, your royalties will follow. Groover can help you get discovered by playlist curators, radio hosts, and music blogs—give your music the push it deserves.

Groover helps artists and their representatives (label managers, PR agents, publishers etc.) get their music heard.


Through an innovative web platform, Groover connects artists who want to promote their music with the best playlists curators, radios and labels seeking emerging talents. On Groover, artists can send their music directly to a selection of blogs, radios, playlist curators, record labels and pros of their choice, get feedback guaranteed, and coverage!

Thanks to Groover, more than 3,000 active music curators and pros have given more than 4 million pieces of feedback, 1 million+ shares (reviews, playlist adds etc.) and 1,000+ signatures on record labels.