The State of Music Streaming in 2023



With ever-increasing competition, market saturation, and a constantly shifting digital landscape, today’s modern music industry is continually evolving at a fast pace. And certainly at the forefront of this is music streaming – by far and away the most popular way that people now listen to music. Here is an overview of the “State of Streaming in 2023.”

In this article, will look at the following aspects of streaming:


STREAMING PAY-OUT RATES (by platform)

Top Music Streaming Platforms in 2023

Spotify pays an average of $0.0032 per stream. This means that an artist would earn $320 for every 100,000 streams. Apple Music pays an average of $0.0068 per stream. This means that an artist would earn $680 for every 100,000 streams.

[Source: decibelpeak.com]

 
“How Many Spotify Streams Are Necessary To Live Above The Poverty Line?”

At an average payout of $0.006 per song stream, a musician living in the United States needs 3,000,000 plays annually to have a gross income of $12,000.

[Hypebot]

 
*The reference page above from Decibel Peak also has a neat “Music Streaming Royalty Calculator,” where you can estimate how much you can make based on a certain number of streams.



CHARTS/RANKINGS

Check out this really interesting cross-reference of top tracks streamed by country, across a range of streaming platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Shazam, Deezer)

Highlights: Calvin Harris, popular in the UK & Poland. David Guetta, on Shazam in Austria.

 
MOST STREAMED ARTISTS / TRACKS

David Guetta has accumulated 21.5 billion streams on Spotify, making him one of the most successful electronic dance music (EDM) artists globally. His collaborations with renowned musicians and chart-topping hits have earned him multiple awards and recognition throughout his career.

LedgerNote

“David Guetta is the 4th most streamed artist on Spotify (overall)”
We Rave You (October 2022)

 

The first sighting of dance music producers comes at #16 with The Chainsmokers, who’ve generated an impressive 7.2 billion streams and $17.7 million. Calvin Harris has taken home a cool $14 million so far, landing him at #25.

[EDM.com (March 2021)]

 

For 2023, David Guetta and Calvin Harris appear within the top 20 again for top streams among all artists on Spotify, coming in at #10 and #15 respectively

[Demand Sage]

 
 
HIGHEST EARNING SONGS

Sunflower by Post Malone has made the most money overall ($4.5 million from U.S. listens)
Blinding Lights by The Weeknd is the highest-earning song in 10 countries (more than any other individual song)
Most of the highest-earning EDM songs are by a handful of artists, including Avicii, Elton John, SAINt JHN, the Chainsmokers or Tiësto
Meanwhile, top-earning hip-hop/rap songs are often by local artists”

[Net Credit]


OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY

“The Good, the Bad, The Ugly”

 
MARKET SATURATION / A FIELD DOMINATED BY MAJOR PLAYERS

As we noted above, major artists & labels accounted for around 75% of all streams (on Spotify). The major players are also releasing around 3,900 tracks a day. In addition, according to Music Business Worldwide, streaming income for DIY artists decreased overall in 2022.

This, combined with the very low payout rates offered by the biggest streaming services may paint a rather challenging picture, however, at the same time (especially due to the fact that it accounts for over 80% of revenue in the music industry), streaming remains a vitally important method of generating income for producers and labels. So on the one hand, there is more competition and a greater number of tracks being released than ever before, but at the same time, unprecedented opportunities if you can get your music out there and heard by the right audience!


SOURCES/ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

Statista
https://www.statista.com/

Blogging Wizard
https://bloggingwizard.com/spotify-statistics/

Ditto Music
https://dittomusic.com/

Hypebot
https://www.hypebot.com/

Decibel Peak
https://www.decibelpeak.com/

Kworb
https://kworb.net/

Kwettr
https://www.kwettr.com/

Headphones Addict
https://headphonesaddict.com

Music Business Worldwide
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/

CNET
https://cnet.com/

Business of Apps
https://www.businessofapps.com/

Net Credit
https://www.netcredit.com/

Sound of Life
https://wwww.soundoflife.com

Wikipedia
Comparison of music streaming services

FinancesOnline
https://financesonline.com/

TuneFab
https://www.tunefab.com/

Digital Trends
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/what-is-youtube-music/

PCMag
https://www.pcmag.com/

SoundGuys
https://www.soundguys.com/

You may also like...

Show Buttons
Hide Buttons