How to Make Money on Spotify in 2025: 6 Ways Explained

Spotify is one of the largest music streaming services in the world—both in terms of the artists it features and the number of listeners. Spotify reports that it’s the undisputed winner in the audio streaming world, with over 675 million users. Out of this number, 263 million are paying Spotify Premium listeners.

With these kinds of numbers, the streaming platform generates astronomical revenue. As an emerging artist, you might ask: How do artists make money on Spotify? How is this revenue distributed among the many artists uploading their songs, albums, podcasts, and audiobooks on Spotify? Does everyone get a piece of the streaming pie? And how much does Spotify pay per stream?

If you’re curious about these questions and want to learn how to make money on Spotify, this article is for you. Let’s look at the 6 main ways how Spotify helps artists profit from their work.

6 ways how artists make money on Spotify

Making money on Spotify can be rewarding and demands creativity, dedication, and time. There are 6 main ways to use Spotify to earn money from your music career: publishing and recording royalties, merch selling opportunities, and promotion for your live shows.

Let’s go through them one by one.

1. Royalty payments

The most obvious way streaming services pay artists is through royalties, which musicians earn proportionate to how popular their work becomes on the platform. According to Spotify, in 2024, they paid out $10 billion in royalties, which they claim is the highest among all music streaming services.

Types of royalties

Spotify pays two types of music royalties:

• Recording royalties are paid to the rightsholders of the music (a record label or music distributor), who then pay artists their share of the money according to the contracts they’ve signed.

• Publishing royalties go to the songwriters of the compositions, paid through publishers, and these royalties depend on the listeners’ country.

An important thing to note here is that Spotify doesn’t pay any money directly to the artists. All the streaming payouts go through distributors or publishers. That’s why it’s difficult to say how much artists earn from Spotify with streaming royalties. It depends on their contracts with record labels, publishers, agencies, or other distributors who manage the artists’ work.

How are royalties calculated?

Spotify earns its money in two ways:

• From Premium users who have signed up for a paid subscription

• From the ads played for users with a free Spotify account

Spotify’s global revenue over the years. Source: Statista

Out of the total revenue, around one-third stays with Spotify to take care of the maintenance of the digital streaming platform, employee salaries, taxes, and other expenses. The rest, about two-thirds of the total money, gets paid out in royalties.

And here comes the most crucial part. Spotify does not pay royalties per stream.

Instead, Spotify pays out money according to a figure they call streamshare. In simple terms, this means that every month, Spotify looks at the proportion of how much a particular song was streamed to the total streams on the platform.

The royalties are distributed proportionally among the record labels and other rightsholders, who then pay the money they get from music streaming platforms to artists they work with. Spotify isn’t alone in doing it like this; other music platforms like Apple Music have the same approach, looking at the artist’s share of total streams rather than paying per stream.

How much does Spotify pay artists per stream?

Because of Spotify’s streamshare approach, it’s practically impossible to tell how much Spotify pays per stream. The same number of streams can result in different royalty payments in different months, depending on the competition and how much other artists’ music was streamed compared to others.

Another important thing to note is that as of 2024, Spotify has changed its policy on royalty payouts. Now, for a track to qualify for the royalty pool calculation, it needs to have at least 1,000 streams over the past 12 months. Plus, to prevent unfair gaming of the system, Spotify also looks at an undisclosed number of unique listeners the track needs to have to be eligible for royalties.

What if I don’t have a distributor or publisher?

Spotify pays artists only through rightsholders, like record labels or other publishers. But what if you’re an independent artist just starting out and don’t have representation from record labels yet?

In this case, you can get your music streamed on Spotify and other music streaming platforms with the help of publishing services like Ditto, Distrokid, and others. Usually, these are subscription-based platforms where you pay a monthly fee for their services but get to keep all the royalties you earn from your music if you qualify for them.

However, the 1,000-stream threshold can be tricky to clear, especially for emerging independent artists, so let’s look at other ways to earn money (and potentially more streams) with the help of Spotify.

How do I get more streams on Spotify?

Even though you don’t get paid per stream, your popularity still affects your earnings in other ways:

1. The more streams you have, the bigger your streamshare

2. You need to surpass the 1,000-stream minimum to start making money on Spotify

3. Getting discovered helps you sell tickets, merch, and promote your other revenue streams

To grow your streams, focus on social media platforms to engage fans, share new releases, and drive eager listeners to your Spotify profile. A strong presence increases your chances of landing on Spotify playlists, especially curated playlists, boosting visibility.

Twenty One Pilots use their social media accounts to share funny moments, tour clips, cryptic messages about new releases, and more. Source: TikTok

Getting featured on music review sites and running promotional campaigns, like Spotify Ads or influencer collaborations, expands your reach. Consistently releasing more songs improves discoverability on streaming platforms, while eye-catching original artwork strengthens your brand.

By combining engagement, strategic promotion, and steady new music, you can make money beyond just royalties.

2. Selling merch

With digital music being the norm these days, many fans look for ways to get some physical keepsakes of their favorite artists. You can help them by creating and selling your merch, which will supplement your earnings from music.

Source: Spotify

While you can go down the traditional route of ordering a stock of items and selling them either at your concerts, brick-and-mortar music stores, or online, for independent artists looking to save money, there’s an even better option—a print-on-demand dropshipping service like Printful.

How it works with print-on-demand

The main appeal of print-on-demand is that you don’t need a big upfront investment to get started. Whether you design t-shirts, hats, totes, or other items, products will be made only when an order comes in. Promotion and customer care are on your side, while your fulfillment partner handles the printing and shipping of your merch.

Spotify allows artists to display their merch on their artist profile pages on the streaming platform itself. You’ll find the Merch section at the bottom of each artist’s Spotify page, with 3 items pinned. If you click on one, you’ll be taken to that artist’s merch store, where fans can place their order and find other products.

Source: Spotify

The easiest way to sell print-on-demand items like tees, hoodies, flags, posters, and more is through the Printful and Shopify integration.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works:

1. Create and set up your store on Shopify

2. Connect Shopify and Printful

3. Pick and design your products

4. Link Shopify and Spotify

5. Add your created products to Spotify

Learn more: For a full overview of this process, check out this step-by-step guide on how to connect your Shopify store with Spotify.

One of the major benefits of print-on-demand is the flexibility sellers get. You can quickly make exclusive content for new album releases or even sell merch for a particular show. For example, Taylor Swift offers her Eras Tour fans a chance to purchase a t-shirt with their favorite era from the concert.

Source: Spotify

Since you don’t have to buy any merch upfront and each order is made on-demand, you have nothing to lose and all to gain by delighting your fans in an authentic way.

Looking for some more band merch ideas? Check out these 26 examples and pick what works for you.

How much you can make selling merch

The question of how to price your merch doesn’t have a universal answer. It all depends on how much you hope to make money and how much your fans are ready to pay to own your custom merch.

As you can see, the price of a simple t-shirt can vary even among extremely famous artists.

When figuring out the price for your merch, there are several factors you need to take into account. With print-on-demand, there’s the base price your production partner will charge you for the order fulfillment, plus taxes and shipping. Your profit has to go on top of that.

But don’t forget about other expenses you might want to cover with the price of your merch, like platform subscription fees, the occasional sale, etc. To entice more buyers, you could also offer free shipping by including the average shipping fee in your retail price.

Try Printful’s pricing calculator to experiment with different prices and profit margins.

At the end of the day, you need to find a pricing range that:

• Your target audience is comfortable with

• Leaves you with a tidy profit to justify all the work that goes into creating your merch line

How you position your merch and the products you pick is also important. An embroidered t-shirt, for example, can be sold as a premium product for a higher price than a printed one.

Read more:

• What is a Good Profit Margin for Print-on-Demand?

• How to Price Custom Shirts

Now, let’s look at the third way you can use Spotify to earn more.

3. Selling show tickets

One of the most popular ways artists make money with their music has always been by selling show tickets. When you release new music, fans will appreciate the chance to hear it live, and getting revenue from the tickets sold at the gigs can be profitable for you as an artist. Plus, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know your fans.

You can use Spotify’s platform to sell tickets, promote music, and inform listeners about your upcoming gigs. Spotify lets you add tour dates to your artist profile. Users will see a list of future shows, and each concert has a ticket link, information about other artists participating in the event, the venue address, etc.

Source: Spotify

A concert tour is another great way to sell your merchandise. You can either order stock to sell at the venue (take advantage of bulk order discounts if you work with Printful) or direct your new fans to your online store with QR codes and links displayed on posters at the venue, your social media channels, etc.

4. Podcasting on Spotify

Podcasts have become a huge part of Spotify’s ecosystem, and artists can snag this trend to generate additional revenue. By creating a podcast, musicians can engage their audience in new ways—by discussing their music-making process, sharing industry insights, or featuring exclusive interviews.

How to make money from podcasting

• Spotify Podcast Ads—Brands can automatically insert ads into your episodes via the Spotify Ads Manager (previously Spotify Ad Studio). You can enable this by signing up for the Spotify Partner Program. The Partner Program pays podcasters 50% of the revenue for each ad played during your episodes.

• Sponsorships—You can offer brands custom ad space for either a one-time promo or a long-term partnership. This way, you can set your own price and integrate the promotion more smoothly into your content.

• Subscription-based content—With at least 100 listeners in the past 60 days, artists can monetize through Spotify’s paid subscriptions, offering exclusive podcast episodes, early access, or bonus content. This model fosters recurring revenue from dedicated fans. Flexible pricing options allow artists to set their rates for premium content.

5. Adding music to other streaming services

While Spotify dominates the streaming industry, other platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Tidal provide additional revenue streams. Each platform has a specific payout structure, so diversifying across multiple services ensures a steady income stream.

Why you should distribute your music beyond Spotify

• Different platforms may offer higher per-stream payouts

• Access to different audiences who prefer alternative music services

• Increased chances of playlist placement, boosting visibility and revenue

6. Monetizing Spotify Playlists

Curating themed playlists and growing Spotify followers on your Spotify profile can lead to monetization opportunities. Popular playlists can attract thousands of followers, making them valuable real estate for emerging artists and brands.

Source: Maisie Peters on Spotify

Ways to earn money from playlists

• Accepting sponsored song placements from other artists

• Partnering with brands looking for Spotify playlist promotions

• Using your playlist to drive traffic to your music, increasing streams and royalties

Growing a Spotify playlist takes time, but with a niche theme and consistent updates, it can become a valuable asset in an artist’s monetization strategy.

By combining these strategies with traditional royalties, merch sales, and live events, artists can build a sustainable revenue stream and grow their careers beyond streaming revenue alone.

Ending on a high note

Streaming has reshaped the music industry, but for artists, especially those starting out, relying solely on royalties can be challenging. With Spotify’s recent changes, like the 1,000-stream threshold, finding additional income streams is crucial.

Diversifying your income through merchandise sales, concert tickets, and other avenues is key to building a sustainable career as an emerging artist.

By taking advantage of Spotify’s integrations and exploring various monetization methods—such as curating playlists or starting a podcast—artists can enhance their financial stability and thrive.