{
  "slug": "streaming-royalty-payout",
  "title": "Spotify & Apple Music Royalty Calculator",
  "heading": "Streaming Royalty Payout Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/streaming-royalty-payout",
  "summary": "Estimate what streams actually pay after your distributor's cut.",
  "description": "Streaming payouts are not a fixed per-stream rate — they come from a pro-rata pool divided by total streams on the platform that month, then filtered through your distributor's fee and any label or publishing splits. This tool uses published per-stream benchmarks (Spotify roughly $0.003–$0.005, Apple Music $0.006–$0.01, Amazon Music around $0.004) so you can model a release realistically instead of trusting a flat headline number. Enter your stream count, pick a platform average, apply your distributor cut, and split the remainder among collaborators by percentage.",
  "formula": "Gross = streams × per-stream rate; net = gross × (1 − distributor fee); your share = net × your split %.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=streaming-royalty-payout",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "streams",
      "label": "Total streams",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 100000,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "rate",
      "label": "Platform average rate",
      "kind": "select",
      "hint": null,
      "default": "0.004",
      "options": [
        {
          "value": "0.003",
          "label": "Spotify (low, ~$0.003)"
        },
        {
          "value": "0.005",
          "label": "Spotify (high, ~$0.005)"
        },
        {
          "value": "0.008",
          "label": "Apple Music (~$0.008)"
        },
        {
          "value": "0.004",
          "label": "Amazon Music (~$0.004)"
        },
        {
          "value": "0.002",
          "label": "YouTube Music (~$0.002)"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "distroFee",
      "label": "Distributor fee",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 15,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 50
    },
    {
      "id": "yourSplit",
      "label": "Your split of net",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 100,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 100
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "yourShare",
      "label": "Your payout",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "gross",
      "label": "Gross royalty pool",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "net",
      "label": "After distributor fee",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "feeTaken",
      "label": "Distributor fee taken",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "perStream",
      "label": "Effective per-stream to you",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Total streams: 100000",
      "Platform average rate: Amazon Music (~$0.004)",
      "Distributor fee: 15 %",
      "Your split of net: 100 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Your payout: $340.00",
      "Gross royalty pool: $400.00",
      "After distributor fee: $340.00",
      "Distributor fee taken: $60.00",
      "Effective per-stream to you: 0.0034"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter total streams.",
      "Enter platform average rate.",
      "Enter distributor fee (%).",
      "Enter your split of net (%).",
      "Read your your payout on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "streams": 60000,
        "rate": "0.004",
        "distroFee": 9,
        "yourSplit": 60
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "streams": 100000,
        "rate": "0.004",
        "distroFee": 15,
        "yourSplit": 100
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "streams": 160000,
        "rate": "0.004",
        "distroFee": 24,
        "yourSplit": 100
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Why does my payout differ from these estimates?",
      "a": "Per-stream rates fluctuate monthly because they come from dividing a subscription revenue pool by total streams — a low-ad-revenue month or a surge in total platform streams changes everyone's rate. Country of listener also matters a lot: a US Premium stream pays far more than a stream from a market with lower subscription prices or more ad-supported free-tier listening."
    },
    {
      "q": "Do distributors like DistroKid or TuneCore take a percentage?",
      "a": "Flat-fee distributors like DistroKid and TuneCore typically take 0% of royalties and instead charge an annual subscription, while aggregators bundled with a label deal or services like CD Baby's free tier take 9–15%. Enter 0% if you use a keep-all-royalties plan."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should I count on streaming income to cover recording costs?",
      "a": "For most independent artists, no. It takes roughly 250,000–350,000 streams on Spotify to net $1,000 after typical fees. Streaming works best as a discovery and touring-driver revenue stream, not the primary income source, unless you're hitting six-figure monthly stream counts."
    },
    {
      "q": "How do splits get paid if there are multiple collaborators?",
      "a": "Most distributors let you set royalty splits at upload so each collaborator gets paid directly and automatically by percentage, avoiding manual payouts. If you didn't set splits in advance, you're relying on trust and manual transfers, which is where disputes usually start."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/mechanical-royalty-split",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/distribution-cut-calculator",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/sync-licensing-fee"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Spotify & Apple Music Royalty Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/streaming-royalty-payout)"
}