Every musician nowadays is probably aware of the importance of playlists. But many place their focus entirely on the big playlists put together by the streaming providers. They forget that being included in smaller playlists also has its advantages. In this post we’ll show you how you can approach independent curators and increase your reach that way.

Feed the algorithms

Playlist placements not only boost your streams short-term but also have a lasting impact on the algorithm of the streaming services. The more playlists include your songs, the bigger your chances of being considered by algorithmic playlists, as well. It is of secondary importance how big the playlists are. What’s a much bigger deciding factor is how well your songs are performing, meaning how high the skip-rate is.

While you should continue trying to get into playlists with millions of followers, it is at the same time worth your while to target playlists with a few hundred or thousand followers. First, you have to make sure that your music will be found:

• Maintain your profiles on the streaming services well
• Push your music regularly on social media
• Try getting your releases out on music websites and blogs. Social media and blogs still prove to be an important source for curators.

Find the right playlists for your music

Unfortunately, you can’t rely solely on curators finding your music somewhere. So, you have to spring into action yourself. For one, you can encourage your fans to include your songs in their playlists. For another, you yourself should put together a list with potential playlists:

• Search the streaming platforms for keywords (e. g. UK Drill)
• See what playlists have artists with a similar style to yours
• Take a note of all the playlists that have included your songs in the past

Once you have your list with potential playlists put together, it’s time to establish the contact. Some list their contact info on the streaming platforms, others you should be able to find on social media. Then pitch your song with all the necessary info but without being overwhelmingly extensive. A pitch should include the following information:

• Artist and song name
• Link to the song
• Info about promotional activities, previous success, etc.
• Link to press images
• A few words explaining why your song fits well into this playlist

Don’t send generic e-mails, because the curator will immediately spot that. Send a specifically tailored message instead. If you don’t receive an answer, you can ask again, but it’s better to just try it with the next track.

Build up a lasting relationship with the curators. Follow them on social media, thank them for placements, and share their playlists.

Never buy streams!

This all might sound like a lot of work, so many artists think it easier to just buy themselves a spot in a playlist. As we have already written and warned about several times, there are numerous unreliable offers that primarily work with bots and that therefore cannot give you any lasting payoff. You can read all about how to spot fake playlists in our other post.

Legal but still not without controversy are offers like SubmitHub, Playlist Push or Soundplate.

For a video to go viral on TikTok, you need to understand how the algorithm works. We’ll show you how to feed it properly. 

TikTok is a fast-moving and unpredictable platform, and it’s hard to predict what will generate a lot of reach and what will get lost in the flood of new videos. What certainly helps, however, is some understanding of how TikTok’s algorithm works so you can tailor your strategy accordingly.

How does TikTok’s algorithm work?

Put simply, TikTok’s algorithm works something like this: When you post a new video, the first step is to show it to only a portion of your followers. If it is well received, it is suggested to other users. If performance remains good, TikTok starts showing the video to people on their “For You” page. If the reactions remain strong, it will be shown to more users continuously until it eventually goes viral.

But how exactly does TikTok measure whether a video is well received by the people they show it to?

First, they check how often the video is watched to the end. This is sometimes one reason why many tutorials do so well, or videos where something is announced at the beginning and only resolved at the end. Generally it is said that you have to catch the viewer in the first 3 seconds. So you should always think carefully about the start of the video.

In addition, TikTok places strong emphasis on the reactions that a video evokes. Specifically, this means the likes, comments, shares, downloads, or even how many profile visits a video has led to.

Your videos should tell a story and arouse curiosity in users so that they watch your video until the end. Regular posting is also rewarded – preferably daily.

Influencers are no guarantee of success

How unpredictable TikTok is is also something to keep in mind when working with influencers. Even with a channel that has many followers, a video may perform less well. Therefore, you should never invest your entire budget only with one influencer because there is a risk that the video will still flop. It is better to spread your budget over several micro-influencers.

Choose the right snippet of your song

Reminder: Always provide the catchiest part of the song on TikTok. Hardly anyone will use your song for a video if you just upload the first 15 seconds of the song. So you have to think carefully about which part of the track is most likely to be used by other users. With some distributors, you can define which excerpt will be made available on TikTok. With iGroove, you can easily define the beginning of the snippet when you capture it.

Go live with up to four people at once? Thanks to the new Live Rooms feature, this will soon be possible on Instagram.

Instagram has announced a new feature that will go live soon. On the one hand, this is their response to the change in circumstances due to the pandemic. On the other hand, it is certainly also due to the pressure exerted by competitors like TikTok. IG Live Groups should also be a useful addition for musicians.

IG Live Rooms

The new feature allows multiple people to go live together. It is expected that four people will be able to be seen in a live video at the same time. All they have to do is accept the invitation.

In general, experts believe that live videos will become one of the most important social media trends of the year. With IG Live Videos, people now have another option.

How do I use IG Live Rooms?

IG Live Rooms is suitable for interviews or talk shows – podcasts with pictures, so to speak. It is also already foreseeable that the tool will be used to advertise products.

For bands, it’s also handy to be able to address fans together without effectively having to meet physically. Whether it is also suitable for virtual concerts remains to be seen, but it is doubtful.

Instagram has not yet announced an exact date for the launch of the new feature. However, it’s certainly worth considering how you can use the tool now so that you can get started as soon as it’s live.

Update: The feature has now gone live. You can find all further information here.

All relevant streaming services pay musicians based on the so-called pro-rata distribution model. To put it simply, all streams are thrown into one pot and the revenues distributed by percentage. Suppose there are a total of 1 million streams and 10,000 of them are yours, that means you receive 1% of the total revenues. What this method doesn’t take into account is the individual listening patterns of the individual users.

System change is demanded

More and more voices are being raised demanding a fairer “user-centric” distribution model. In the user-centric model, the revenues garnered by each user would only be distributed to those artists that they actually listened to. While in the pro-rata model the Justin Biebers of this world will receive a portion of someone’s subscription fees even if they’ve never listened to them, this model would only support those artists that they actually streamed.

So, suppose that from someone’s subscription fees, 10 euros are distributed to the artists. If this person only listened to 10 songs from 10 artists, then each one of them would receive one euro. In the pro-rata distribution model, on the other hand, those 10 euros would just be thrown into a big pot and end up in some random artist’s account.

Is SoundCloud switching to User Centric?

After Deezer announced some time ago that they might change their model and nothing happened, things could take a more definitive form at SoundCloud.

Since SoundCloud is less dependent on big labels than other streaming providers, it would be easier for them to take this step. Still, the challenge is not to be underestimated. Whether SoundCloud will really change their model or just introduce a feature which offers users the option to “tip” their favourite artists, remains to be seen in the first quarter.

Do artists benefit from the user-centric model?

One of the most frequent criticisms of the pro-rata distribution model is that it favours major labels. The user-centric model was devised to benefit independent artists in particular. It will certainly satisfy listeners more if they knew that the musicians that they actually listened to are also the ones being paid. But would artists really benefit from a system change? A French study has examined and compared the two models

The study shows that it would primarily be the top 10 most streamed artists who would have to deal with significant losses (17.2% on Deezer, 12.5% on Spotify). Percentage-wise, artists with the least number of streams will profit the most, although we are still talking about small amounts here. The share of paid royalties will only decrease for the top 10 artists.

Artist Rank (based on streams)	Pro Rata	User Centric
1-10	9.3%	7.7.%
11-100	21.6%	21.8%
101-1000	36.4%	37.2%
1001-10000	25.0%	25.1%
Over 10001	7.7%	8.1%

In practice, this would mean a loss of several hundred thousand euros for the top 10 artists. The artists on ranks 11-100 would earn about an additional 9,000 each; those on ranks 101-1000 around 2,500 per artist. For everybody else it would only make a difference of less than 10 euros per year. A real profit would mainly be gained by most of the top 1000 artists, but for the large majority, the effect would be fractional.

Big losses for HipHop

Another profiteer would be the back catalogues of artists, which would now receive 52.1% instead of 48.9% of the royalties. But the real big changes would happen between genres. This is because niche-genres would benefit the most from a system change, especially classical music, hard rock, and blues, but also popular genres such as pop and rock. This change would mainly occur at the expense of hip hop releases, which would lose a big fat 40% of their revenues.

Meanwhile, a shift from big corporations to smaller distributors cannot be observed. On the contrary, the five biggest companies would actually increase their market share by 0.7%.

However, the study did note advantages in the prevention of fraud by buying streams.

The study further observes that changing the distribution model has high cost implications. This is probably one of the reasons why barely any streaming provider has considered the change so far.

But at the very least the numbers from this study also show that a system change would have little impact for the lower-tier compensation of artists anyway. As soon as new data appears or new models are introduced, you will find out about it here.

The study by the Centre National de la Musique (CNM) is based on numbers from Spotify and Deezer, as well as various major and independent labels. Other streaming providers refused to provide their data for the study. The analysis uses numbers from 2019 and was conducted exclusively on French users with a premium subscription.

Only dance videos and lip-sync? TikTok has long been one of the most important trendsetters in the music industry.

By 2020, most musicians should have realized that TikTok is much more than just dancing underage girls. There are few social media apps that focus as much on music as TikTok. With 800 million users, TikTok also has an enormous reach, and this reach will remain, since President Biden has also taken the blocking of the app in the U.S. off the table for the time being. TikTok will therefore remain one of the most important trendsetters in 2021.

The fact that TikTok can push songs into new spheres and launch careers is no longer a secret. Here are some concrete numbers on this:

• 176 songs reached over one billion video views on TikTok in 2020
• 90 songs that trended on TikTok reached the top 100 on the Billboard charts
• Of those 90 tracks, 15 even reached #1
• 70 artists received a major deal after their music trended on TikTok

Fans and A&R’s discover artists via TikTok

TikTok is without a doubt one of the most important places for young people to find new music. Likewise, numerous A&R’s use the platform to discover new talent. In addition, the majors (and other labels) invest large sums of money in advertising campaigns on TikTok, which further emphasizes the importance of the app.

HipHop dominates on TikTok

So as an artist, there’s less and less of a way to avoid having a presence on TikTok. But does this apply to all genres?

The dominant genre continues to be hip-hop, and pop, R&B, and electronic music are also popular. However, this does not mean that for other genres TikTok is useless. With 800 million active users (100 million of them in Europe), you can always find your niche and even have the advantage of less competition.

More streams thanks to TikTok?

The crucial question is, of course, whether a large reach at TikTok automatically translates into increasing sales and more streams at Spotify and other streaming services. This is unfortunately very difficult to measure, but there are at least numerous success stories that strongly suggest it.

So it’s certainly helpful for artists to compare their TikTok insights to their streaming numbers to find out the effect of TikTok.

The fact is, TikTok is an unpredictable platform and it’s hard to predict which song will go viral and which will get lost in the crowd. Soon you can find out how to positively influence TikTok’s algorithm here at iGroove Magazine.

What are Art Tracks exactly, why should I make my music available to everyone on YouTube, and will I make any profit from it? We have the answers right here.

YouTube’s Art Track feature is one many are unfamiliar with and is therefore often cause for confusion. We’ve put together an overview for you to try to shed some light on the subject.

What are Art Tracks?

A music video with a static image (album cover), the audio file, and the most important metadata. It’s YouTube’s way of ensuring that the audio formats work on a video platform, as well.

When you submit your music to YouTube via your distributor, not only will registered subscribers of YouTube Music be able to listen to your song, but thanks to the Art Tracks feature also people on the “normal” and free YouTube.

Each individual song will have an Art Track set up for it: so, in an album with 10 tracks, for example, you’ll find 10 Art Tracks on YouTube.

Mixed opinions about Art Tracks

Artists’ opinions differ in this regard: Some are well aware that YouTube is factually the biggest streaming service there is and they absolutely want to make their music available on it. Others, however, are not willing to essentially offer their music to anyone almost for free. That’s why iGroove gives you the option to decide for every release whether you only want to make it available on YouTube Music (Premium) or also as an Art Track (free).

Compared to user uploads, Art Tracks have the advantage of a better audio quality. Additionally, they increase the chances of users discovering more of your music through your Topic Channel.

Even better if you request an Official Artist Channel, because with it you can have all of your own uploads as well as all Art Tracks of your topic channel in one profile. You can find the other advantages that come with the OAC on our other post.

Do I get money from Art Tracks?

Yes, for each view you receive a portion of the revenues that YouTube gets from subscriptions and advertisements.

There is also the option to make your own Art Tracks and upload them. You can monetize these via your Content ID. But whether you will make enough of a profit that it justifies the extra effort is, at the very least, doubtful.

If you want to maximize revenues on all ends, you should make your music available both on YouTube Music and as an Art Track. Additionally, you should use YouTube’s monetization option so that you also make money when other people use your music in their videos.

A lot of artists are only in promotion mode when a release is coming up. But really, you should promote yourself and your music consistently and always remain active in between releases, as well. Even when you’re in the studio and working on new material, you should constantly keep in contact with your fans – because they are quick to forget.

There is always something you can promote

Even when there isn’t a release coming up, there is always something you can promote – whether it’s a new social media channel (e.g., you can now find me on Clubhouse, as well), a give-away, a new website, or a virtual concert. The main goal should always be to convert occasional listeners into long-term fans. It’s not enough for people to listen to your music every now and then. Hardly anyone can live off their streams or heaps of views on TikTok.

What you want to achieve is gain a lot of new followers and turn them into real fans who will check out your new releases.

Selling by storytelling

You don’t get there by constantly asking people to buy stuff from you. People want to be entertained by good music and creative content on your social media. Offer them a behind-the-scenes glimpse and let them be part of your musical journey, your studio sessions, etc.

Call to action

Even though you shouldn’t be too pushy, a call to action is always a must. The general attention span is short and with a call to action, you can lead people to where you want them to go.

Planning the release

A release takes planning and advance preparations. Before getting an album out there, it is imperative that you release and pitch multiple singles first and also make a couple music videos. That way you always have something new to promote.

Allocating the budget

As mentioned in one of our other posts, you should always have enough of your budget saved for promotion and not spend it all on production. At the beginning of a career, you have to invest more than you might get out of it.

Offer something special

In this pandemic, it has become clear that in most cases, streaming revenues are not enough. So, offer your fans something special like an awesome Deluxe Box, creative merchandise, a limited vinyl edition, etc.

Visuals

A lot of artists often neglect the visual aspect. A creative music video, cool photos and video content on social media, Canvas on Spotify, or an eye-catching Artwork increase the chances of people becoming interested in your music.

Newsletter

Social media posts only reach a fraction of your followers. Those who are really interested in your music will want to sign up for a newsletter, which is why it is one of the best tools for artists to advertise and sell their products.

You want to discuss your release and promotions plans? As an iGroove client, you can set up a call anytime with our promotion experts who will gladly set up an individual plan for you.

If you’re buying beats on the internet, you not only have a wide selection to choose from but also access to good quality at a great price. But there are also some stumbling blocks in the way. Here, we’ve put together all the things you need to watch out for.

More and more artists look for the right beat for their songs on the internet. That way, you come in contact with producers that you would have never met otherwise and can secure quality beats without a hassle and often also at very affordable prices. But the devil is in the details, or rather, in the contract that you usually have to sign at the purchase. We will show you what you have to look out for.

Beat leasing limitations

If the beats are low priced, it is usually because you are not buying the exclusive rights, but are just leasing the beat. This means that one, the producer can still sell the beat to other artists, but also, that you are limited in your use of the beat. This could mean that you can’t release the song on streaming platforms or if you can, then only up to a certain number of streams/sales and for a limited time.

What’s almost always forbidden is the monetization of tracks via the YouTube content ID. The reason is simple: If multiple artists use the same beat, ownership conflicts will automatically arise.

Similar conflicts can come up when you make your song available on Facebook or Instagram. In both cases you should abstain from uploading if you don’t have the exclusive rights.

Advantages of buying exclusive rights

According to an article by Rolling Stone Magazine, there have been more and more instances where managers buy the exclusive rights to a beat as soon as a song goes viral. This doesn’t have to lead to problems right away, but when the license for the beat runs out, you will have to deal with a new negotiating partner and won’t be able to extend the license on the same terms and conditions. If it becomes apparent that your song is about to blow up, you should contact the producer ASAP and secure the exclusive rights.

Are the samples cleared?

If it’s not explicitly mentioned in the contract, you should always ask the producer whether the beat contains samples and if so, whether these have been cleared (which they most likely have not).

As already mentioned in our post on samples, in the worst-case scenario, you could get sued for using a beat with samples.

Leasing for the budget

Especially for artists who are still at the beginning of their career, it is advantageous to lease beats and keep costs low. The beat should never consume the whole budget; there should always be something left for the promotion.

In any case, you should read the contract closely, so that you know exactly what you can and cannot do with the song. If you’re absolutely certain of the quality of the song, it’s worth investing from the start and purchasing the exclusive rights.

It’s becoming more and more apparent that virtual concerts are here to stay even after the pandemic. This post explains why that is and what advantages come with virtual shows as an addition to live concerts.

Many view virtual concerts only as a makeshift solution during the pandemic or ignore the topic altogether. But it has become increasingly apparent that this form of concert will continue to exist post-COVID, as well. Of course, they will never replace a live event, but there are good reasons why they will still be present as an addition.

Live industry revenues at rock bottom

The concert industry has essentially been brought to a screeching halt by the pandemic. Globally, revenues in the last year dropped by 75%. Virtual shows have become one of the ways in which to compensate for at least a part of the cancelled events. Based on one assessment, virtual concerts in 2020 have brought in $600 million already. This, despite the fact that up until now, only 9% of the potential audience have effectively watched a livestream.

A survey has shown that 80% of viewers were satisfied with the experience and that 74% were willing to pay for it. It’s become more and more clear that a new video format is emerging and taking root. We’re not talking about some dude anymore who plays guitar in his kitchen and streams it on Insta with mediocre sound quality, but instead professionally organized shows with ticketing and excellent sound quality.

The advantages of virtual concerts

Here are a few examples of why virtual concerts are still a worthwhile addition even when we can attend live concerts again:

• Hybrid shows: If a concert is sold out, you can sell additional tickets for the stream
• You can reach fans which are not in the area in which you’re playing
• With a virtual concert you can reach fans who are too young for the live event, can’t afford a ticket, or can’t leave the house that night
• As a promotional tool: A virtual concert can, for instance, give a little taste for the live tour
• The concert market is competitive: With virtual shows you can prove to bookers that you put up good concerts and can attract people

Virtual concerts are well on their way of becoming a part of the relationship between artist and fan. You can build a different type of connection than you can at live concerts by responding to questions from fans, for instance, or even letting them decide on a setlist.

Virtual concerts as a addition to live shows

One day virtual concerts might be comparable to live broadcasts of sporting events. Of course, it’s more fun to watch in the stadium, but you probably won’t travel to every single away game, and even when it comes to a home match, you might sometimes prefer to watch from your homely sofa instead.

The combination between live and virtual concerts allows artists to perform more regularly and to give fans more options – with regard to pricing, as well.

A first few festivals have already announced that they won’t be taking place in 2021 either. The renowned Montreux Jazz Festival recently announced that in future, too, they will opt for a hybrid model consisting of both live events and digital projects.

Every artist who so far has generated a part of their income through live shows should by now be thinking about ways to reach their fans virtually, as well.

How to set up virtual concerts and make money with them, you will learn in this post.

Did streaming save the music industry from going under, or are streaming providers much more the gravediggers of the music industry? We took a look at the numbers.

There have been discussions about the level of payouts ever since streaming became established. With the pandemic and the resulting loss of income sources, streaming providers faced even more criticism. Is streaming the salvation for the long struggling music industry or much more its gravedigger? We will be addressing this topic several times in the coming weeks and months.

The fact is that revenues from CD sales and downloads are collapsing, and only vinyl remains stable at a low level or is even growing. Streaming dominates the music market: In the USA, 85% of revenues come from streams, in Germany it is already two thirds. Does this mean that the music industry has defeated piracy and is generating record revenues?

Higher revenue thanks to streaming?

No, in 2019 (no more recent figures available yet), the music industry generated $20.2 billion worldwide. In fact, this is the highest revenue since 2004 when revenue was $20.3 billion. However, in the years before, the revenue was much higher namely at 21.9 billion (2002) or even 23.4 billion (2001) thanks to CD sales that were still flourishing at that time.

However, if inflation is taken into account, things look different again: In 2007, when Spotify was launched in Europe, the music industry generated 18 billion. Adjusted for inflation, the figure is 22.19 billion, which is significantly more than the sales in 2019. The launch of Spotify and other streaming providers has therefore not ensured a flight to new heights, but only slowed a steady downward trend.

Do the artists benefit?

The crucial question, however, is whether more artists are benefiting now than when major labels and CD sales dominated virtually everything. Take Spotify as an example: in 2020, 90% of all streams, and therefore about 90% of revenues, were generated by 43,000 artists. According to Rolling Stone magazine’s calculations, this equates to about $100,000 per artist on average. Compared to the previous year, 43% or 13,000 more artists are among the top earners.

If growth remains constant, by 2023, 100,000 artists will be able to live off their Spotify payouts alone. Even though it will still only be a small elite that can make a living from Spotify streams, this is a satisfying development. Even in the CD era, it was only a fraction of artists who got a really big piece of the pie.

Conclusion

It is therefore too easy to demonize streaming services across the board. However, neither are they the saviors of the entire music industry. As mentioned, we will explore this topic further and also reflect on what changes it would take for significantly more artists to be able to live off their streaming revenues.

Is Clubhouse just short-term hype fueled by the pandemic, or really the biggest social media revolution since TikTok or Instagram?

Assuming you don’t live under a rock, you’ve almost certainly heard of the app Clubhouse in recent weeks. Invitations are in high demand, more and more celebrities are using the app, and despite manageable user numbers, it’s already worth billions. Even though everyone is jumping on it at the moment, the question remains whether Clubhouse can establish itself or whether the hype will quickly cool down again. We asked around.

What is Clubhouse?

Compared to other social media apps, Clubhouse does without text and image posts. It’s all about the spoken word. Users meet in rooms and discuss specific topics (or just listen). The makers are focusing on scarcity; so far you can only join with an invitation plus Clubhouse is only available for the iPhone. According to the latest figures, the app has 2 million active users per week.

What are the advantages?

A lot of interesting people are on Clubhouse, so you can get a lot of expert knowledge.

Networking: it’s easier to talk to people who would otherwise be difficult to get in touch with.

Contact with fans: Clubhouse offers two-way communication with your fans. Fans can ask questions and there is a direct exchange.

The fact that not many users are using the app yet is of course a disadvantage from the musician’s point of view. However, it can be an advantage that Clubhouse is not yet so crowded and you can build a network more easily as an early adopter.

If you join a discussion, your followers will receive a notification. If they join, their followers are notified, and so on. So it’s worth starting a discussion with other artists to reach out to multiple fan groups.

Earn money with Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is already planning to pay creators. Under discussion are tips or even that you have to buy a ticket to participate in a discussion. Of course, this will only be really interesting if the app can establish itself in the long term and greatly increase its user numbers. But will Clubhouse have an effect like no social media app since TikTok or Instagram, as certain experts are already predicting?

One thing is certain: Clubhouse has the attention and the financial resources. In addition, more and more celebrities and opinion leaders are using the app, and even big companies are jumping on the train. But it is also agreed that Clubhouse would never have been the talk of the town so quickly without the pandemic. We are now eagerly awaiting the launch of Clubhouse’s new features and whether they will make the app even more interesting for musicians.

Jesse Kirshbaum of Nue Agency has come up with an interesting thesis. She believes Clubhouse will revolutionize the podcast world. Right now, it’s frowned upon to record your conversations on Clubhouse. However, she believes that will change soon and thus there will be plenty of material to satisfy the hunger of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc. for new podcasts. It remains exciting and it certainly can’t hurt to grab an invite.

How many streams do I need per month to be able to live off them? Based on the minimum wages in the US and UK, we’ve calculated the answer for you.

iGroove’s goal is to help artists make a living off their art. Since downloads and physical sales are steadily on the decline and concerts are at the moment still a thing of the future, we have calculated how many streams you need per month to be able to live off them. As a reference we’re using, quite modestly, the minimum wage in the US and UK.

Additionally, we are assuming that most streams are generated in the artist’s home country. The calculations are based on the analysis of the payments made by Spotify and Apple Music.

Based on the data from our artists, we assume 90% of streams in the UK to come from Spotify and 10% from Apple Music, while in the US 65% of streams come from Spotify and 35% from Apple Music. We further assume that the artist is releasing their music independently and they therefore don’t have to give up a big portion of the revenues to a label.

US

We are basing these calculations on a minimum wage of $7.25, which at 40 hours a week amounts to $15,000 per year and $1,250 per month. Additionally, we counted around $3,526 of revenues per 1 million streams on Spotify and $7,640 on Apple Music.

So, you will need around 170,000 streams on Spotify and 85,000 streams on Apple Music to reach a minimum wage income. For a whole year, this number will come out to around 3.06 million streams on both platform that you will need to be able to make a living.

UK

In the UK, we are working with a minimum wage of £8.72 per hour, which at 40 hours a week amounts to around £18,317 per year and £1,511 per month. The payment per one million streams amounts to £3,544 on Spotify and £8,308 on Apple Music.

So, a UK artist has to reach 338,000 streams per month on Spotify and 37,555 on Apple Music to reach a minimum wage income. Per year, this would mean 4.5 million streams on both platform.

A UK artist therefore needs a lot more streams to reach the minimum wage.

This is partly due to the fact that the minimum wage in the UK is higher than in the US. Another reason is that in the US there is a significantly higher portion Apple Music streams, which pay more.

Forecast your future revenues

Do you want more planning reliability and know how much you will earn in the future? With our AI “Muse” we can calculate your projected streaming revenues for the next 6, 12, or even 24 months.

These numbers will help you decide whether you can live off your music. Of course, you shouldn’t necessarily aim for just minimum wage; we only used it for the purpose of comparison.

More information