Pandora royalties calculator: pay per stream in 2026

What Pandora pays per stream in 2026

US only; mostly ad-supported radio-style listening, so it pays less than on-demand services; only one source gives a figure. The table shows what that range means for common totals and three typical distributor cuts.

Rate: $0.0019 to $0.0024 per stream ($1.93 to $2.35 per 1,000), sources 1. Distributor cuts: 0% is DistroKid's subscription model 1, 9% is CD Baby 1, 15% is RouteNote Free 1 and AWAL 1. All checked 15 October 2026. If you are signed to a label, multiply the last columns by your royalty rate.

Why Pandora pays less

Pandora is a US service built around radio-style stations, and most of its listening is ad-supported. Ads bring in less than subscriptions, so the average per stream is low: $1.93 to $2.35 per 1,000 in a distributor calculator (LANDR), the only figure we found. Paid Pandora listening brings in more per play than ads, so an audience on Pandora's paid plans may sit above that range.

Why it is a range, not one number

No source measures every Pandora payment, and each one covers different countries, years and plans. Here is what each says, word for word. The low end of our range is the lowest credible recent figure and the high end the highest.

Radio plays and SoundExchange

In the US, radio-style digital plays also earn digital performance royalties, collected by SoundExchange and paid to the featured artist and the recording owner. That money is separate and is not in the figures here, so register with SoundExchange if Pandora plays matter to you.

Worked examples

• 1 million streams on Pandora pays about $1,930 to $2,350 to the rights holder. After a 15% distributor cut you keep $1,641 to $1,998.
• 100,000 streams pays about $193 to $235; 10,000 pays about $19 to $24.
• $1,000 takes about 426,000 to 518,000 streams with a 0% cut.
• Rent of $1,500 a month takes about 638,000 to 777,000 streams every month, before tax.
• A 50/50 split with a producer on 1 million streams: each of you gets about $965 to $1,175. Add collaborators in the calculator to see each person's share.

What these figures leave out

Every number here is the recording (master) side: what the platform pays the account that owns the recording, usually your distributor account. Songwriting money is separate. Mechanical and performance royalties for the composition go to the publisher, collection society or PRO, and US radio-style plays also earn SoundExchange money. None of that is in these figures, so a songwriter who owns their masters earns more than the table shows.