How many plays does an artist need to earn just a dollar on Spotify?

We read on Business Insider that the streaming it has been, in a way, the savior of record company finances. Especially those that have a great catalog of hits from yesteryear. Think Sony ATV with the music of The Beatles or the record label Island (Universal) with the hits of The Killers.

This itself is a double-edged sword since artists can turn to a company like CDBaby or OneRPM to handle only the digital distribution part and / or to be a simple intermediary after a commission for technology promotion services. Those artists with catalogs in the big 3 surviving labels (Warner, Sony, Universal) and the mini-majors (Rough Trade, Sub Pop) they only receive the 10.5%  nowadays.

Towards 2024,. record labels must pay artists about 15%. And this is how BI obtains the following calculation on what a group or soloist would have to battle on Spotify and other platforms to earn a dollar. Recall that until a decade ago, digital success was measured by the sale of albums or singles on iTunes, a format today for a niche of enthusiastic users or audiophiles.

• Spotify: 250 plays. (That is, more than 20 times a standard disc to win a dollar).
• Amazon Music: 278 plays.
• Apple Music: Pay a little more, but still disappointing: 152 plays.
• Tidal, who gained notoriety for a promo with Madonna and Jay-Z, if it's a bit more artist-friendly: just 91 views.
• In case of Youtube It has a trick since it is a video site and the earnings are calculated like those of any youtuber, but it has the advantage of having a higher audience than specialized platforms. 1587 views required. If you had the doubts, Google Play Music (which is used by the unwary who never canceled after testing with ATT or Telcel or those YT Premium fans) requires 164 plays.
• Who pays with less plays is Napster, brand that was revived with investors who have nothing to do with the creators of P2P software, and that pays the dollar for 59 plays.

Personally, I recommend you support your favorite artists by buying their album in a store (the more independent the better), as well as buying their official merchandise.