Our calculator estimates streaming royalties using volume-adjusted tier rates instead of flat averages. The formula is:
Revenue = Monthly Streams × Base Rate × Tier Multiplier
Base per-stream rates for each platform (2026 mid estimates):
| Platform | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | $0.003 | $0.004 | $0.005 |
| Apple Music | $0.007 | $0.008 | $0.010 |
| YouTube Music | $0.002 | $0.003 | $0.005 |
| Tidal | $0.010 | $0.012 | $0.013 |
| Amazon Music | $0.004 | $0.007 | $0.009 |
| Deezer | $0.003 | $0.005 | $0.006 |
Per-stream rates are not uniform across artists. Artists with higher stream volumes tend to have more Premium subscribers in their audience, which increases their effective per-stream rate.
| Tier | Monthly Streams | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | < 10,000 | 0.80x |
| Small | 10,000 – 100,000 | 0.90x |
| Mid | 100,000 – 500,000 | 1.00x |
| Large | 500,000 – 1,000,000 | 1.10x |
| Major | > 1,000,000 | 1.15x |
Tier multipliers are calibrated against 9 months of verified payout data from an independent label distributed through UnitedMasters. Base rates are cross-referenced with publicly reported industry averages and updated quarterly.
The blended calculation distributes streams across platforms using a typical independent artist split: Spotify 55%, Apple Music 15%, YouTube Music 12%, Amazon Music 8%, Tidal 5%, Deezer 5%. Each platform's contribution is calculated separately and summed.
The calculator is available as a free API for tools and AI agents:
GET /api/calculate?streams=50000&platform=spotify