These days there are so many online streaming services for you to get your fix of music. And it’s something we all consider a necessity too in our subscription arsenal. Whether it be for the morning commute, or cooking dinner of an evening, loading up the likes of Spotify, Amazon Music or YouTube can give us our tunes and keep us feeling upbeat.
One of the real bones of contention with platforms like Spotify and other music streaming services are how much they payout to artists though. The likes of Taylor Swift, Neil Young and many others have all been vocal about how much artists get, claiming that they don’t get a fair deal and many smaller, independent artists are now far worse off as a result.
In 2014, Swift pulled her music from Spotify, stating: “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”
Things have changed since then and Swift is now back on the platform, but the point really does still stand. Ella Houghton, a music aficionado at SlotsJudge, has delved into the topic to uncover the streaming services that pay artists the most.
Which streaming service pays artists the most: Our payout list in 2025
If you’re conscious about ensuring the many artists you love get the most competitive payouts, here is how much each music streaming service pays artists:
Pandora
One of the lowest streaming payouts around, Pandora pays just $0.0013 per play and only has six million paying subscribers, and 42 million active users, making it much smaller than others too. Founded in 2004, it’s a more radio-style service and is more ad-supported than on-demand streaming.
Soundcloud
Soundcloud positions itself as a platform for independent creators as much as it does for record labels and has developed a sound reputation with 180 million global users. It provides a streaming revenue of $0.0025 to $0.004 per play, and offers competitive payouts compared to other digital music platforms.
Spotify
By far the biggest on the market, Spotify has 268 million paying, premium customers and 678 million active monthly users. While it’s not one of the highest paying for artists, it is good for artists looking to maximize the number of listeners, which can boost coffers considerably. Spotify pays artists $0.003 to $0.005 per play, with Taylor Swift having earned over $426 million from the service.
Amazon Music
Another popular streaming service is Amazon Music, which has over 80 million users globally and pays $0.004 every stream.
The service offers the perk of being integrated into Amazon’s other products, like the Echo, which is great for customers, and it’s continuing to grow, which is good for artists wanting to distribute their music globally.
Deezer
Founded in 2007 in France, Deezer is far less popular than others and licensing deals mean that artists earn different amounts in different countries. However, on average this is around $0.0064 per stream, which is higher than many others, but its user base is also lower.
Apple Music
One of the standout platforms, which see artists maximize their streaming revenue is through Apple Music. If offers the highest amount of earnings when combining the $0.01 per play and the 108 million paid subscribers.
Its position on payment states: “We believe in the value of music and paying creators fairly for their work. Since we launched the iTunes Store in 2003, we have helped millions of artists and songwriters make a living from music. As the discussion about streaming royalties continues, we believe it is important to share our values. We believe in paying every creator the same rate, that a play has a value, and that creators should never have to pay for featuring.”
YouTube Music
While YouTube Music can pay among the lowest amounts to artists, it does also have a huge user base, meaning the $0.002 every stream some artists get can be still lucrative. Due to the nature of YouTube, with some payments relating to audio, some music videos, and other various videos it can make it difficult to judge.
Tidal
On the flip size, Tidal is a brand that offers $0.012 per stream and positions itself as a high fidelity, artist friendly streaming service. The premium service has around three million paid subscribers, but artists are typically given a fair deal.
How Music Compares To Other Entertainment
It’s similar to other parts of the entertainment industry where fair payout rates play a big part in the success of a business. The casino industry is a good comparison to draw here, alongside film and gaming, and while not on a subscription based service, users choose their platform based on the best paying online casinos, wanting more bang for their buck. Just as is the case with artists here.
The link between the RTP of a slot, for example, and music’s payout per stream is pretty close and it’s all about finding the best deal not just for monetary value, but the other variants too. In a slot’s case that’s volatility, in a streaming service it is number of active users that then may listen to your song.
In Conclusion: Which Music Streaming Service Pays Artists The Most?
Tidal and Apple Music offer the highest quality music streaming experience online, which pays artists best and ensures they are treated fairly. While Tidal help artists most in terms of the monetary value of each stream, Apple Music is a streaming platform with far more users, so revenue streams can be much higher.
That can also be said for Spotify. If calculated based on the number of streams available by the 0.003 or 0.005 per stream, that can far exceed any other service in the music industry and could provide the best compensation for artists as they maximize their earnings and reach.
The post Which Music Streaming Service Pays Artists the Most in 2025? A Deep Dive Into Spotify, Boomplay, Audiomack & More appeared first on tooXclusive.
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