Streaming Royalty Machine
Follow the money from subscriptions and ads through platform share, recording rights, publishing, streamshare, and the agreements that determine what reaches artists and songwriters.
Net music revenue
$15B
Market and plan pool
Platform share
$4.5B
30% retained
Rightsholder pool
$10.5B
70% of net revenue
Recording pool
$8.4B
80% of royalties
Songwriting pool
$2.1B
20% of royalties
Streamshare
0.00003%
1M / 3T
Publishing estimate
0.00003%
100% ownership
Recording income
$2,800
After 0% partner share
Songwriting income
$700
After 0% admin fee
Estimated combined take-home
$3,500
Derived value per artist stream
$0.0035
No fixed per-stream rate
Major streaming services allocate changing monthly revenue pools. The effective value of a stream is an outcome of that pool and its total eligible streams.
Two royalties
A stream creates recording royalties for the sound recording and publishing royalties for the underlying composition.
Contracts shape take-home
Labels, distributors, publishers, administrators, ownership splits, and recoupment can all change what reaches an artist or songwriter.
Model notes
An explainer, not a royalty statement
This model uses a fixed 70/30 illustration: the DSP retains 30% of net music revenue and 70% flows to rightsholders. The rightsholder pool defaults to an 80/20 split between recording and songwriting, which you can adjust in five-point increments.
Publishing is modeled with the same streamshare for clarity. Real performance and mechanical royalty calculations vary by service, offering, territory, subscriber counts, statutory rules, and negotiated rates.