Ask anyone today how they listen to music and they'll most likely tell you the streaming service they use.  I don't know anyone who actually purchases CD's anymore.  There has been a revival in vinyl purchases but not enough to really boost any sales.  Streaming music is where it's at right now.  While many artists aren't getting paid a ton for their music being streamed (unless you're an artist with millions/billions of streams), streaming services have helped the music industry tremendously.  Remember Napster?  The music industry took a huge hit when people were refusing to buy music in lieu of downloading it.  While there are setbacks to streaming music, piracy is no longer an issue because of it which has been a great thing for the music industry as a whole.    

Streaming platforms and how much they pay per stream/in general:

There are quite a few amount of streaming platforms out there and the amount the artist receives from certain platforms is varied.  Now, the artists aren't the only ones who receive payouts.  There's the label, songwriters, producers and the rights holders that receive payments of the overall amount accrued from streaming. 

Spotify

This platform pays $.0032 per stream.  However, you must have listened to at least 30 seconds of the song to be considered a "streamed" song.  Spotify is the most popular streaming service and also the one that pays the least to the artists.  

Spotify does something called "stream share" and that determines an artists cut of the revenue as well as the rights holders, labels, etc.  The video below shares in detail how this all works.

Apple Music

This platform pays $.0056 per stream.

Google Play

This platform pays $.0055 per stream.

Napster

While Napster is the platform that pays the most per stream, $.019, their usage is quite low.

Tidal

Jay-Z's streaming service offers $.01284 per stream.

Deezer

 The US-French-based streaming service is still relatively unknown, I myself just found out about this service while researching for this article.  They pay $.0064 per stream. 

Amazon

Amazon used to pay Indie artists $.074 per stream but that price has now plummeted to $.0402.

Pandora

While being one of the most popular streaming services, like Spotify, Pandora pays their artists very little; $.0011 per stream.

YouTube

If you're trying to make a living off your music, YouTube is not the place to do it.  They're known for their paltry payouts and have never really been artist-friendly.  This platform pays its artists $.00069 per play.    

The above data is for the year 2018 and shows the amount each platform pays per stream, streams per song, etc. 

How has streaming affected the music industry as a whole?

While many artists have protested Spotify and other platforms for not paying the artist enough, these streaming platforms have actually saved the music industry.  Back when people had to actually purchase CD's, that was the only source of income for producers, artists, etc.  You had to wait to see how many CD's you actually sold to find out the profit from those sales.  Now, instead of having to wait for a CD to come out to make a profit, the music industry is profiting monthly due to subscriptions to streaming platforms.  For big record companies and streaming platforms, with these subscriptions, they make a lot of money.  If you're a big artist like Beyonce, you're going to see more revenue as well.  As for the artists who aren't as famous and popular, they see pennies to their music streams.  

After taking their cut of the pie, Spotify (I will most likely be using them as the main example since they are the biggest and most popular streaming platform) then gives a good chunk to the record labels.  It is then the label's responsibility to disperse some of that revenue to the artists, songwriters, producers, etc.  However, by the time the artists piece of the pie comes around, it's pretty small.  Record labels are already notorious for not paying their artists fairly so this really isn't a surprise. 

Another way streaming has helped the music industry is that you no longer need to worry about piracy.  There's no reason to illegally download music like we used to when Napster first came around because it's all at our fingertips and we have unlimited access to it.  The industry doesn't have to worry about losing revenue due to piracy anymore because they make money off subscriptions and streams.   

How has streaming affected the artist?

While streaming services have saved the music industry, the same cannot be said for the artists who are trying to make a living with their music.  The disparity in revenue between the streaming platform/record labels and the artist is huge.  The streaming services and record labels are making the most out of streaming while the artists themselves, depending on their level of fame, are barely able to make a living off their music. 

Because the artists isn't the only one who gets a piece of the revenue pie, there is only so much that is actually allocated to the artist themselves.  After Spotify and the labels take a huge chunk of this pie, there is only a small amount left for the people who actually created the music.  

The lion’s share goes to the streaming platforms instead of going to the creators, who are the lifeblood of the music industry. The current split of income is unfair, dangerous and needs to change because the people who will suffer the most are ultimately music creators like me.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson, singer-songwriter, cellist, composer (The Guardian)

There has been talk of upping Spotify's subscription fee in order to be able to distribute more of the revenue to the artists.  However, if the fee goes up, will people still subscribe?  As it is, only 40% of subscribers are premium subscribers which mean they pay the $10 subscription fee instead of subscribing to the free version.  If the price were to go up and people couldn't be bothered to continue paying for the service, then the artist would get even less than they already do.  Touring is a huge source of income for artists but it costs a lot of money to put these tours together and really alters their relationships and tends to be hard on the body.  So artists need to be able to make money off their music instead of having to rely on touring which hasn't been at all possible lately due to the pandemic. 

So are streaming platforms good for the music industry and artists or not?

In conclusion, it depends.  Obviously, if it's just the music industry you are focusing on, then yes, streaming platforms really help promote a lot of revenue and income for the music industry as a whole.  However, if you're the artist, or anyone who is banking on the income after a good chunk of it has been given to the streaming platform and record labels, then not really.  The artists, unless you're Beyonce-famous, are barely able to make a living off their music so for them, streaming isn't always the best way to make money but it is a great way for people to come across your music and find out about it especially if you're with a small independent label or have put your music on there yourself.