How platforms pay for streams

So how much do platforms pay for streams?

In recent years the industry has developed a game — choosing the most profitable distributor. Where to upload your tracks to earn the most. Here they take 30%, there 20%, and elsewhere 0%! Then it turns out that all options bring roughly the same amount (if anything at all). Why is that?

The situation is stirred up by YouTube bloggers claiming that Spotify pays 2-4-6 kopecks per stream. The audience asks for a NUMBER, influencers give a number. Then the artist asks why 100,000 streams didn't bring 60,000 rubles — after all, that's what YouTube said…

Take the phrase «100% royalties go to the artist». 100% of what amount? What does the company offering the artist free services live on? If you wish, you can come up with many more questions.

In this article we explained how platform payouts arise, the path money takes to the artist, the frequency of reports, and a few more things you may not have known or considered. Of course, we answered the main question: «How much money will I get?»

We hope this article helps you better understand the industry, the chains and relationships between players, so that in the future you can add your talent as an artist, manager or other specialist to the field you're interested in.