Free tool · Updated November 11, 2026
Spotify royalty calculator
Enter your streams and see the estimated recording royalties on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and YouTube, and what reaches you after your distributor's cut and your splits.
Streaming royalty calculator
Leave it at 0 if your distributor passes on all of your royalties.
Lower it if you split the recording's royalties with a producer or a featured artist.
Estimated per month
$30–$50
Estimated per year at this pace
$360–$600
At this monthly rate, a track would stay under Spotify's threshold of 1,000 streams in 12 months and earn no recording royalties.
Estimates only: recording royalties, before taxes. Spotify $0.003–$0.005 a stream; the other platforms from Duetti's 2024 payout data, ±20%. The sources are in how much Spotify pays per stream, as of July 2026. No streaming service pays a fixed rate per stream, so your own statements will differ.
Streaming royalties at a glance
- Spotify has no fixed rate per stream. Most estimates put the effective pay at roughly $0.003–$0.005 a stream, or $3–$5 per 1,000 streams.
- A track needs at least 1,000 Spotify streams in the previous 12 months before it earns recording royalties there.
- Amazon Music, Tidal and Apple Music pay more per stream than Spotify, by the ranges below.
- The calculator covers recording royalties. If you wrote the song, publishing royalties come on top, through your collection society.
- What reaches you depends on your distributor's cut and on who shares the recording with you.
How the calculator works
The calculator multiplies your streams by a low and a high estimate for the platform you pick, then takes off your distributor's cut and any share that goes to collaborators. You get a range because the pay behind a stream changes with the listener's country and with whether they pay for a subscription.
Spotify explains in its royalties guide that it pays rights holders a share of its revenue, based on each track's share of all streams. A per-stream figure is what you get when you divide a royalty statement by its stream count afterward. It's a planning number, and our per-stream guide goes through where it comes from.
The per-stream ranges the calculator uses
Spotify's range comes from distributors' published estimates. The other platforms come from Duetti's analysis of 2024 payouts to independent artists (Billboard's coverage of the report), with 20% either side.
| Estimate per stream | 10,000 streams | 100,000 streams | 1 million streams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | $0.003–$0.005 | $30–$50 | $300–$500 | $3,000–$5,000 |
| Apple Music | $0.005–$0.0074 | $50–$74 | $500–$740 | $5,000–$7,400 |
| Amazon Music | $0.007–$0.0106 | $70–$106 | $700–$1,060 | $7,000–$10,600 |
| Tidal | $0.0054–$0.0082 | $54–$82 | $540–$820 | $5,400–$8,200 |
| YouTube | $0.0038–$0.0058 | $38–$58 | $380–$580 | $3,800–$5,800 |
Every figure here is recording royalties before your distributor's cut, splits and taxes.
Spotify's 1,000-stream threshold
Since April 2024, a track has to reach at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months to earn recording royalties on Spotify. Spotify's announcement sets out the rule. That's about three streams a day, so the calculator warns you when the monthly figure you enter would leave a track under it.
The rule counts each track by itself. Ten songs with 200 streams each earn nothing on Spotify, and one song with 2,000 does.
What reaches your account
Streaming services pay your distributor or label, and what reaches you depends on three things.
- Your distributor's model. Some charge a yearly fee and pass on all of your royalties. Others keep a percentage for as long as the release earns. Enter that percentage in the calculator. Our comparison of DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby lists what each one keeps.
- Your splits. A producer, a featured artist or a bandmate may share in the recording. Enter your own share to see your part.
- Publishing. If you wrote the song, a second royalty is paid for the composition through collection societies and publishers. It isn't in these estimates.
Your royalties with Audora
The calculator estimates. Your account shows what your music earned: Home shows what your distributor's statements say, song by song, store by store and country by country. Your numbers adds the plays, saves and playlists behind the money.
When you set royalty splits on a release, each collaborator is invited by email, and Audora pays each person their share.
The exact steps for your release are in your account, dated to your release day, and Audora keeps adjusting them as it learns what works best for its artists. What every track gets shows the full release.
Questions
How much does Spotify pay per 1,000 streams?
Roughly $3 to $5 for most artists, from distributors' estimates and Duetti's analysis of 2024 payouts. Spotify has no fixed rate, so the figure moves with where your listeners are and whether they pay for Premium.
How much does Spotify pay for 1 million streams?
Roughly $3,000 to $5,000 in recording royalties at the commonly cited range of $0.003–$0.005 a stream, before your distributor's cut, splits and taxes.
How many streams do I need to earn $1,000 on Spotify?
Roughly 200,000 to 330,000 streams at $0.003–$0.005 a stream, before your distributor's cut, splits and taxes.
Does the calculator include publishing royalties?
No. It estimates recording royalties, the part your distributor pays you. If you wrote the song, publishing royalties are paid separately through a collection society such as ASCAP, BMI or PRS.
Why is my payout different from the estimate?
Because every stream is worth a different amount. A stream from a paying subscriber in a country with high subscription prices adds more to the pool than a free-tier stream from a lower-priced market. The calculator gives you a range to plan with, and your statements show what was paid.
Is anything I enter sent to Audora?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type leaves your device.