From Spotify To Apple Music: How Much Time It Takes To Earn $1 By Song Artists

In the streaming era, music artists depend on services like Spotify and Apple Music to be paid for their music instead of relying on traditional CD sales or digital purchases of music.

Streaming services and musicians have been at odds multiple times - like the time Taylor Swift pulled her catalogue off Spotify in 2019 for the lack of power given to artists. "I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free," she said back then.

Now, an estimate gaining traction on Reddit shows how much each service pays to musicians.

American hip-hop artist T-pain also shared the estimates on his Twitter account, lending the claims some amount of legitimacy. It shows how many streams of a single song are required on music streaming platforms for them to make $1.

How much do services pay artists?

If the numbers are to be trusted, YouTube Music requires the most number of streams (1,250) to pay artist $1 while the age-old Napster requires the least number of plays (53).

Just so you know¡­¡­ pic.twitter.com/t8m3PerxT9

¡ª T-Pain (@TPAIN) December 29, 2021

The two most common music streaming services in the world are Spotify and Apple Music, and these require 315 and 128 streams of a single song respectively for each artist to make $1. Everybody's back-up music service Amazon Music pays each artist $1 for every 249 streams.

Also read: Inside Spotify's Ambition To Become Your Most Preferred Audio Habit

Alternative services like Tidal Music, Deezer, and Pandora pay artists $1 for 78, 156, and 752 streams respectively.

The numbers reflect the anxiety many artists have shown over making money just through streams. In fact, most revenue for musicians comes through international tours, most of which are currently prohibited due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Numbers match those by Apple and Spotify

The Reddit analysis is close to estimates by Apple in April about how much it pays artists. In a letter to artists, Apple Music claimed that it pays a penny (1 cent) for each stream - meaning that to earn $1, each song must be streamed 100 times. The Reddit analysis puts the number at a close 128.

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Also read: Apple Unveiled Apple AirPods 3, HomePod Mini And New Voice Plan For Apple Music

Even then, Apple Music pays it artists double of what Spotify does. It's important to note here that Apple Music doesn't offer a free service and relies on subscription charges to pay artists. Spotify, on the other hand, offers a free tier with ads and generates more streams.

Did you know that music services like Spotify and Apple Music pay artists so little? Share your thoughts with us below. For more in the world of tech and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.