The Honest Truth: 100% Real Income for Independent Artists on Streaming Platforms in 2025
In today's digital age, streaming platforms have become the primary means for artists to share their music with the world. However, the earnings from these platforms can vary drastically, especially for independent artists who rely on every stream for support. As an independent artist myself, I want to share some real numbers from my first song release to highlight the importance of choosing the right platform to support artists.
Here's a breakdown of my earnings per stream across various platforms:
Amazon Unlimited: $0.005455 per stream
Apple/iTunes: $0.003996 per stream
TikTok/TikTok Music/Resso: $0.002500 per stream
YouTube: $0.002166 per stream
Amazon Cloud: $0.001364 per stream
Spotify: $0.000825 per stream
BOOM: $0.000455 per stream
Facebook / Instagram / Reels: $0.000053 per stream
To put these numbers into perspective, here are some examples of what my earnings look like based on different numbers of streams:
For 45 streams:
Facebook / Instagram / Reels: $0.0024
Spotify: $0.0371
Apple/iTunes: $0.18
YouTube: $0.0975
Amazon Unlimited: $0.24
For 10,000 streams:
Facebook / Instagram / Reels: $0.53
Spotify: $8.25
Apple/iTunes: $39.96
YouTube: $21.66
Amazon Unlimited: $54.55
To illustrate further, consider big artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, or Sabrina Carpenter. These artists often reach billions of streams. For example, if one of these artists achieves 1 billion streams on various platforms, their earnings would be approximately:
1,000,000 stream
Amazon Unlimited: $5,455,000
Apple/iTunes: $3,996,000
TikTok/TikTok Music/Resso: $2,500,000
YouTube: $2,166,000
Amazon Cloud: $1,364,000
Spotify: $825,000
BOOM: $455,000
Facebook / Instagram / Reels: $53,000
As you can see, platforms like Amazon Unlimited, Apple/iTunes, TikTok, and YouTube provide the best financial support for independent artists. On the other hand, Facebook, Instagram, and Reels offer significantly lower earnings, making it challenging for artists to sustain themselves through these platforms.
Spotify falls somewhere in the middle. While it is one of the most popular streaming services, its earnings per stream are not as high as some of the other platforms. Given Spotify's current financial situation, it is understandable, but it still provides better support than Facebook and similar platforms.
If you truly want to support independent artists and contribute to their growth, it's essential to choose the platforms that provide fair compensation. Streaming on Amazon, Apple, TikTok, and YouTube can make a significant difference for artists who work tirelessly to create and share their art.
As an independent artist, I pour my heart and soul into my work. The support from listeners who choose platforms that value and fairly compensate artists is invaluable. By making informed choices about where you stream music, you can help ensure that artists like me can continue to create and thrive.
I have an Amazon Music and Apple Music offer for you to try for free for 30 days. So you don't have to worry about paying money and stuff like that. Just give it a try. Amazon offers really good quality and really nice sound. Apple Music's lossless function is just amazing, especially if you have AirPods—Apple Music is simply the best. YouTube provides a great variety, and Spotify, yeah, you can do that too.
Keep in mind, the streaming data provided here is based on just one month of streams for my song. This isn't reflective of an entire year or a lifetime of streaming, but it gives a snapshot of how different platforms can impact an independent artist's earnings.
I'm going to leave the links to these platforms for you to download. And don't forget to tell me after one month what you think. Your feedback is invaluable!
Thank you for supporting independent art and for helping to create a sustainable future for all artists. Your choices matter, and they make a difference.
FOR THAI BAHT
