A rough calculation of the amount some of the most-streamed artists have earned on the music streaming platform as of May 2024.
Most major streaming services, including Spotify, do not pay artists a flat rate per stream. Instead, they use a pro-rata payment model. This collects all advertising and subscription revenue over a month, then shares 70% (with the other 30% going to Spotify) with artists based on how many streams they accrued during that month.
Not all streams are created equally. The price of a Spotify Premium subscription varies around the world, as does the amount advertisers pay out based on various factors. Streaming revenue can also vary based on the contract worked out between Spotify and labels. For these reasons, the term “pay per stream” can be misleading.
Several publications have calculated a rough estimate of how much a stream is worth on Spotify. The most up-to-date estimate on Spotify is around $0.003 and $0.005 per stream.
We use the total streams data provided by ChartMasters to find the top ten artists and their all-time Spotify streams. By multiplying the “lead streams” by an average 0.004 dollar per stream, we get the total earnings listed below. Lead streams does not include featured streams.
Please note, the amounts stated below are before labels, managers, etc. take their cut. Don’t forget, Spotify is just one source of revenue. The highest earning artists in the world have multiple sources of income from other stores, licensing deals, business ventures, live shows, merch sales, etc. These numbers are rough amounts the artists have generated on Spotify alone. To keep 100% of the revenue streaming services payout, check out RouteNote Premium!
Since last updating this list last month, K-pop band BTS has been replaced by Kanye West thanks to the release of his 2024 album VULTURES 1. Taylor Swift is still the queen of Spotify, with over 81 million lead streams, putting her total earnings at over $327 million. This is ahead of the most-streamed male artist, Drake at 76 million streams and $304 million.
Total earnings: $327,691,017
Lead streams: 81,922,754,180
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