How do per-stream royalty rates compare across major streaming services in 2025–2026?
Executive summary
Streaming payouts in 2025–2026 remain a landscape of ranges, not fixed cents: established data and industry trackers show Spotify among the lower-paying mainstream services (roughly $0.003–$0.005 per stream), Apple Music and some services tied to paid-only subscriber pots paying materially more, and niche or closed platforms (TIDAL, Qobuz, even Peloton’s music arm) often cited as the highest per-stream payers — but all figures carry heavy caveats because nearly every major service distributes via revenue-share rather than a fixed per-stream rate [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. Why “per-stream rates” are slippery: revenue-share and contextual math
None of the major platforms pays a universal flat fee per play; most operate on revenue-pool or pro‑rata models (sometimes with user-centric experiments), meaning an individual track’s per‑stream value depends on total subscription and ad revenue, the listener’s country, and an artist’s share of total streams — which makes headline “per‑stream” numbers estimates, not guarantees [5] [6] [7].
2. The mainstream spread: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer
Multiple trackers place Spotify toward the low end at approximately $0.003–$0.005 per stream, a figure compounded by Spotify policies enacted in recent years that introduce thresholds and eligibility checks for master payouts (for example, a 1,000‑streams/12‑month threshold and “noise” filters) that change effective earnings for low‑play tracks [1] [8] [5] [9]. By contrast, reporting and platform comparisons show Apple Music and Amazon Music routinely paying significantly more per 1,000 streams versus Spotify — Digital Music News summarized a study finding Apple and Amazon outpacing Spotify per‑thousand streams — though Apple’s improvement reflects that its paid‑only subscriber base avoids dilution by free ad‑supported listeners [2] [10]. Deezer’s estimates sit in a midrange band (roughly $0.0011–$0.0064 in one industry roundup), and its evolving “artist‑centric” rules can change track eligibility and boost payouts under certain conditions [11] [8].
3. High‑paying exceptions: TIDAL, Qobuz, Peloton and samples that surprise
Industry guides and historical data consistently list TIDAL among the higher per‑stream payers — cited figures near $0.012–$0.013 per stream appear across guides — and Qobuz or boutique services that sell premium, lossless subscriptions can also produce above‑average per‑stream receipts [3] [4]. An unusual datapoint comes from Benn Jordan’s analysis highlighted by MusicRadar that identified Peloton’s music feed as paying among the highest per‑stream rates in 2025, underscoring how nontraditional platforms with small, high‑value subscriber pools can outperform mass services on a cents‑per‑play basis [4].
4. YouTube Music and variability: a wide distribution, surprising averages
YouTube Music demonstrates the extreme variance that results from mixed content and licensing arrangements: a March 2025 sample reported per‑stream outcomes from roughly $0.0003 to $0.015 with a volume‑weighted average near $0.0071, illustrating how platform mechanics and rights splits can produce very different effective rates even within the same service [12] [11].
5. Practical takeaways for interpreting comparisons
Comparisons should be read as directional: mainstream reach (Spotify) can yield more gross dollars via volume despite lower per‑stream estimates, paid‑only services (Apple) and boutique services (TIDAL, Qobuz, some fitness apps) often deliver higher cents per play, and regional/subscription mix and catalog splits (mechanical vs performance rights, distributor cuts) materially change what reaches rights‑holders’ pockets — many calculators and trackers exist, but all carry large error bars because of opaque splits and diverse user mixes [1] [6] [7] [13]. When sources disagree on precise cents, the consistent signal across reporting is that relative ranking (low‑payer mass platforms vs higher‑payer niche/paid platforms) is more reliable than any single per‑stream figure [5] [1] [3].