Spotify is the biggest streaming service. We all know this, and almost all musicians (and labels for that matter) focus all of their promotion energy and funds on Spotify. But does this actually make sense? We’ve run the numbers, and have a different story to tell….
Together, Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music account for 54% of the streaming market (see sources at the end of article to see where the info comes from). These three also have a playlist system that’s easy to pitch to, and curators can easily keep their playlists in sync across all three platforms.
This chart shows how the three services compare based on numbers of streams as a percentage of the total.
So, Spotify is the biggest and best, right? In terms of streams, maybe… but we calculated a ratio of streams versus what artists actually get paid, using real figures from artists signed to our label. Spotify paid our artists just $0.0012 per stream, Apple Music $0.0045, and YouTube Music $0.0038. So if we adjust the chart based on that you can see the difference for yourself:
So! The moral of the story is, don’t focus just on Spotify. YouTube Music gave equivalent revenue, and Apple Music much more. Make sure you get yourself listed on cross-platform playlists, may we humbly suggest some of our own here, and you can find many more on SubmitHub (you also get 10% off premium credits with this link), where there is even a filter to only show curators who share cross-platform. On social media and wherever you shout out about your music, use links that allow people to choose the streaming service they use. SubmitHub is a great place to create cross-platform links, under their free tools, like this example one here.
Source of streaming stats; https://explodingtopics.com/blog/music-streaming-stats, revenue stats based on December 2024 actual average revenue per stream for all Avondale Records’ artists.
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