Streaming royalty calculator
Enter your stream count to see a realistic payout estimate. Rates vary by country, subscription type and your distribution deal — treat these as ballpark, not a promise.
| Platform | Rate/stream | Estimated |
|---|
Rates are industry averages. Actual payouts depend on listener country, whether they're on a paid or free tier, and your distributor's cut.
Read this before you get discouraged
The numbers are small, and that's the point of understanding them early. Ten thousand streams on Spotify is roughly the price of a decent dinner. Streaming is not where independent rap makes money — it's where it gets discovered.
Where the money actually is
- Live shows — one local show can out-earn a year of streams.
- Merch — higher margin than anything on this page.
- Sync licensing — one placement in a game, show or ad beats six figures of streams. Requires clean rights, which is why ownership matters.
- Features — once you have an audience, other artists pay for access to it.
Your share is under 100% if you split with a feature or your distributor takes a cut. Work out the splits here.
Related: music distribution explained · when to buy exclusive rights.
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