SoundCloud royalties calculator: pay per stream in 2026

What SoundCloud pays per play in 2026

Fan-powered royalties: each listener's money goes to the artists that listener played, so the per-play figure depends on how much your own fans listen; only one source, SoundCloud's own estimate. The table shows what that range means for common totals and three typical distributor cuts.

Rate: $0.0025 to $0.0040 per play ($2.50 to $4.00 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.

Fan-powered royalties

Most services pool all the money in a market and split it by share of streams. SoundCloud's fan-powered royalties split each listener's money among the artists that listener actually played. A small audience that listens a lot can earn more per play than a big audience that listens once. The figure here is SoundCloud's own estimate (SoundCloud), and it is the only source we found, so treat it as a guide.

Why it is a range, not one number

No source measures every SoundCloud 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.

The 500-play line

Monetization requires at least 500 eligible plays in the past month (per SoundCloud's own page). Below that, plays are not monetized at all. This is a monthly line, unlike Spotify's yearly 1,000 streams per track.

Worked examples

• 1 million plays on SoundCloud pays about $2,500 to $4,000 to the rights holder. After a 15% distributor cut you keep $2,125 to $3,400.
• 100,000 plays pays about $250 to $400; 10,000 pays about $25 to $40.
• $1,000 takes about 250,000 to 400,000 plays with a 0% cut.
• Rent of $1,500 a month takes about 375,000 to 600,000 plays every month, before tax.
• A 50/50 split with a producer on 1 million plays: each of you gets about $1,250 to $2,000. 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.