That got us to thinking: How many streams does it take to survive on streaming revenue alone?Īccording to the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), the poverty line for single-person households is $11,770. The majority of these overnight sensations are young and without families to support, but they still have the cost of living expenses that need to be met. Still, every other week someone goes viral online and builds an entire career of the profits made from streaming royalties.

Still, with physical media sales bottoming out and competition for tour revenue increasing, the money made from streaming can have a significant impact on an artist’s ability to develop, not to mention sustain themselves. No one is suggesting artists survive on streaming royalties alone. Streaming payouts are a relatively new revenue stream for musicians. It is theoretically possible for anyone with access to a laptop and the ability to convey a melody to become a digital sensation who has fans all over the world without the aid of big label money (though, to be fair, big label money still makes a sizable difference). There are more avenues for exposure than ever, recording music is (or can be) cheap, and an increasing number of artists are finding success outside the traditional label system.

Whether or not the global economy can sustain the numerous streaming platforms won’t be decided for some time, but whether or not artists can survive the streaming economy is a hot topic that needs to be addressed.Īny industry expert will tell you that musicians today have it easy. Spotify has more than one hundred million monthly subscribers worldwide, which places the platform far ahead of its peers, but Apple Music and Amazon Music are gaining millions of new users with each passing month. Spotify streaming royalties often upset artists, but how many plays does a musician need to live above the poverty line? We did the math.

How many people on spotify family