How we count

Streams do not have a price

Streaming services do not pay per play. Each month they split a pool of subscription and ad money by share of all plays, and they pay rights holders. Artists get paid by whoever holds their rights. Spotify's own FAQ says it directly: "No service pays a fixed amount per stream." Spotify Loud and Clear FAQ.

The $0.003 figure

$0.003 is the 2024 average of what one play was worth to the rights holder on Spotify, from the Duetti Music Economics Report 2024. It matches Damon Krukowski's "$0.003 per stream, gross" from January 2026 (dadadrummer.substack.com, 2026-01-15). Spotify disputes every per-stream estimate, including this one.

For context, measured 2024 averages per play on other services: Apple Music about $0.006, Tidal about $0.007, Deezer about $0.005, YouTube Music about $0.002 (contested), Amazon Music about $0.004 (contested; one 2024 study measured $0.009). Apple's own 2020 figure of $0.01 includes publishing royalties (Apple Music for Artists).

The 1,000-play floor

On Spotify, a recording with fewer than 1,000 plays in a year earns nothing from recording royalties. This has been in effect since April 2024 and Spotify restated it in March 2026 (track monetization eligibility).

Bandcamp

Bandcamp keeps 15% of a digital sale (10% once an artist passes $5,000 a year) plus payment processing of 5% + $0.05 on sales under $8.07. So about $0.75 of a $1 single reaches the artist, and about $8 of a $10 album. On Bandcamp Fridays Bandcamp waives its share, so about $0.90 and $9.50. Remaining 2026 Bandcamp Fridays: November 6 and December 4. Bandcamp has been owned by Songtradr since October 2023. Sources: fees, payment processing, Bandcamp Fridays.

3 plays a day

Plays per day is our assumption. No platform publishes how often a person plays a song they have on repeat. One 2018 self-report study of 204 people found 43% of daily listeners played a favorite song three or more times a day, so we use 3, which understates a true loop (Conrad et al., Psychology of Music).

Last checked: 2026-10-24.