How Much Do I Get Per Stream on Spotify (2026 Edition)

Spotify regularly emphasizes that it's not possible to give a single number for what they pay per stream. This is true—the rate changes from month to month, varies by country, and differs between subscription types. At Tools 4 Music, we've analyzed our comprehensive streaming data to provide guidance on how much artists actually earn per stream across different markets.

In this article, you'll learn:

Our Data

The figures in this analysis are based on real earnings data from 2025, covering 938,178 streams across 64,058 data points. We calculated average values for over 130 countries. The global average pay-per-stream on Spotify is $0.00222 (approximately $2,220 per million streams).

The Top Paying Countries

Europe and Scandinavia dominate the top-paying markets on Spotify. Here are the highest-paying countries:

Top 10 Countries by Pay-Per-Stream

Iceland leads with an impressive $7,266 per million streams—more than three times the global average.

English-Speaking Countries

For artists targeting English-speaking markets, here's how they compare:

The UK and Ireland offer significantly higher rates than the US, while Canada brings up the rear among major English-speaking markets.

Major Markets

Here's how some of the world's largest music markets perform:

Countries Below $1,000 Per Million

Many developing markets pay significantly less. Countries with PPS below $1,000 per million streams include:

Calculate Your Spotify Earnings

Want to know exactly how much you could earn from your Spotify streams? Use our Spotify Royalty Calculator to get accurate estimates based on your stream counts and listener locations.

For multi-platform calculations, try our Streaming Royalty Calculator which covers 41 different platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and more.

How Spotify Calculates Royalties

Spotify uses a "pro-rata" or market-share payment model. Rather than paying a fixed amount per stream, Spotify pools all the revenue generated in a given country and time period, then distributes it proportionally based on each artist's share of total streams. This means your effective pay-per-stream rate depends on how many total streams occurred in that market during the same period.

Spotify collects revenue from two main sources: premium subscriptions and ad-supported free-tier listeners. Premium streams generate significantly more revenue per play than free-tier streams. In 2025, Spotify reported paying out over $11 billion to the music industry, the largest annual payout from any single retailer in history, representing a 10% increase over 2024.

The 70/30 revenue split means Spotify retains approximately 30% of its total revenue and distributes 70% to rights holders. From that 70%, your distributor or label takes their cut, and the remainder flows to you as the artist. If you co-wrote the song, publishing royalties are collected separately through your PRO (Performing Rights Organization) such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

Spotify's 1,000-Stream Monetization Threshold

Since 2024, Spotify requires tracks to accumulate at least 1,000 streams within a rolling 12-month period before they generate master recording royalties. This policy was introduced to combat fraud and redirect micro-royalty payments toward working artists. Tracks below 1,000 annual streams previously generated tiny fractions of a cent that often never reached artists anyway.

If you are a songwriter, you still earn publishing royalties on streams below this threshold through your PRO. The 1,000-stream threshold only applies to the master recording side, which is what your distributor pays you. For new releases, focus on playlist placements and social media promotion to clear this threshold quickly.

Discovery Mode and Its Impact

Spotify's Discovery Mode allows artists and labels to flag tracks for algorithmic boosting in exchange for a reduced royalty rate—typically a 30% reduction. When enabled, Spotify prioritizes these tracks in Radio and Autoplay sessions, potentially increasing your stream count while lowering your per-stream earnings.

Our data factors in a 30% royalty reduction for Discovery Mode streams. Whether Discovery Mode is worthwhile depends on your goals: if you are trying to grow your audience and build momentum for a new release, the trade-off may be worth it. For established tracks with steady streams, keeping the full royalty rate is usually the better choice.

Tips to Maximize Your Spotify Earnings

Key Takeaways

Understanding where your listeners are located can help you make informed decisions about marketing spend and audience targeting. Use our calculators to model different scenarios and optimize your streaming strategy.