How Do Royalties From Streaming Services Get Divided Between Songwriters and Artists?

Basic Royalty Breakdown (Per Stream)

Streaming services pay out ~70% of their revenue to rights holders. That’s split between:

Rights Type

Who Gets Paid

Typical % of Stream Revenue

Master Rights

Label / Artist (via distributor)

~80% of the 70% (≈ 56%)

Publishing Rights

Songwriters / Publishers

~20% of the 70% (≈ 14%)


These are rough estimates and may vary slightly depending on platform, region, and deal terms.


 Master Side (Sound Recording)

  • Paid to the record label or independent artist via a distributor (e.g., DistroKid, TuneCore)
  • Artist and label split depends on the contract (independent artists may keep 100%)
  • This includes:
    • Streaming revenue from Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
    • Digital download sales


 Publishing Side (Song Composition)

Paid in two parts:

  1. Performance Royalties
    • Collected by PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC)
    • Paid to songwriters and publishers
  2. Mechanical Royalties
    • Collected by The MLC in the U.S.
    • Paid to songwriters and publishers

To get the full share, you must register with both a PRO and The MLC (or a publishing admin).


 Pro Tips

  • As a songwriter, register with a PRO and The MLC to get both halves of your publishing income.
  • As a recording artist, use a distributor to collect your master share.
  • If you do both (write and perform), you can earn from both sides.
  • Consider a publishing admin to collect international royalties too.


Bottom Line:
Streaming royalties are split between the recording and songwriting sides. To collect all the money you’re owed, you need to set up the right registrations and understand both halves of the music royalty system.

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