How much does Spotify pay for 1,000 streams? (2026, after your distributor's cut)

1,000 Spotify streams, step by step

Rate: $0.0030 to $0.0050 per stream ($3.00 to $5.00 per 1,000), paid to the rights holder, sources 1 2 3 4. Distributor cuts: DistroKid 1, CD Baby 1, RouteNote Free 1, AWAL 1. All checked 15 October 2026. The middle column is the middle of the range, not a prediction.

Why 1,000 streams matters more than the money

On Spotify, 1,000 is two numbers at once. It is the amount on this page, about $3.00 to $5.00, and it is the line a single track has to cross in 12 months before it earns anything at all. This page is about the money. The rule, with a checker for your own tracks, has its own page: Spotify's 1,000-stream rule.

The two meet in one place. 1,000 streams on one track in the last 12 months clears the line. The same 1,000 streams spread over five tracks, 200 each, clears it on none of them, so all five earn $0 (Spotify for Artists). If your catalogue is spread thin, focusing listeners on one song pays better than a wide spread.

1,000 streams against your distributor's fee

At this size the yearly fee matters more than the per-stream rate. DistroKid's cheapest plan costs $24.99 a year (DistroKid pricing), so covering it takes about 5,000 to 8,330 Spotify streams a year at the average. CD Baby charges $9.99 once per single and keeps 9% (CD Baby), so a single pays back its fee after about 2,200 to 3,660 streams. Neither is a reason to choose one distributor: the right choice depends on how many songs you release.

1,000 Spotify streams by listener country

Spotify pays from a separate pool in each country, so the same streams pay differently depending on where your listeners are. We only have named, dated figures for two countries: 1,000 streams from listeners in the United States pay about $3.90, and from listeners in Portugal about $1.80 (Ditto Music). Each is one figure from one source, so treat both as a guide.

For India, South Africa, Nigeria, the Philippines, the UK and everywhere else we have not found a per-country figure we can quote, so we do not give one. Your real audience is a mix of countries anyway: check where your listeners are in Spotify for Artists, and use the worldwide range unless most of them are in one of the countries above.

1,000 Spotify streams in other currencies

These convert the dollar figures (approx., ECB reference rate of 15 October 2026 (ECB)). They are not local pay rates: what a stream pays depends on where the listener is, and we only have sourced country figures for Spotify in the United States and Portugal. The ECB publishes no reference rate for the Nigerian naira, so there is no naira row. Pick a currency in the calculator above to convert your own result.

Other stream counts

Other counts: 10,000 streams on Spotify, 100,000 streams on Spotify and 1 million streams on Spotify. Every Spotify rate, source and distributor cut is on the Spotify royalties calculator. For songs on Spotify, the save rate calculator and the 1,000-stream rule checker read your Spotify for Artists numbers.