With the highest market share of all global music streaming services, Spotify is an excellent platform with a large earnings potential. But how do you use Spotify to start making money?
This article uncovers valuable tips on how to make money on Spotify, from streaming and monetizing playlists to selling your own custom merch.
Key takeaways
- Spotify artists can generate income through streams, merch sales, playlist promotions, podcasting, and live performances.
- The platform pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream, with earnings varying based on listener location and subscription type.
- Monetize curated Spotify playlists by reviewing submissions and promoting tracks.
- Verified Spotify accounts can access features to track performance, engage with fans, and boost revenue through profile customization and promotional tools.
- Expanding to platforms like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music further enhances new artists’ income potential.
Spotify’s payment system explained
Spotify’s payment system operates on a pro-rata model. The platform pools all monthly revenue and distributes 70% of its net revenue to rights holders based on the artist’s share of total streams.
Payouts vary greatly by region. The amount an artist earns also depends on whether their listeners use Spotify for free or pay premium subscription fees, generating more revenue.
Artists can use online calculators to estimate their Spotify royalties, but generally, expect to earn between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream.
How to make money on Spotify
Spotify offers various ways for artists to earn money beyond streaming. From selling merch to monetizing podcasts and playlists, these strategies will help diversify your income.
Here are six effective ways to make money on Spotify beyond streams.
1. Sell your own merch
Selling your own merchandise is an underrated option for making money on Spotify. With the accessibility, impact, and popularity of eCommerce, selling custom-branded products takes about as much effort as managing a social media profile.
Merchandising is one of the few ways to monetize your content by offering physical products while enhancing your brand’s visibility. Whether you’re creating custom-printed t-shirts for an album release, print-on-demand hoodies for a tour, or customized mugs to promote your Spotify podcast merch, Printify has you covered.
Printify is a no-risk POD platform that’s perfect for creating custom clothing and other accessories for your Spotify merch. Apply your designs to high-quality products, and our global network of Print Providers will produce and ship them straight to your customers.
With over 1,000 products in our Catalog and a beginner-friendly Product Creator, Printify offers artists free resources to create and sell their merch through a variety of popular online sales channels with no minimum order requirements.
Read more to learn about why Printify is the leading platform with the biggest catalog in Print on Demand:
Printify vs Printful
Gelato vs Printify
2. Gain streams with a verified account
To become a legitimate Spotify artist and get paid through Spotify streams, you must complete a verification process and create a Spotify for Artists account. With it, you can:
- Receive a verification checkmark.
Your account receives a badge to let listeners know you’re official. - Customize your public profile.
Edit your profile image, artist description, page layout, and promotional releases. - Access performance analytics.
Track your streaming data to see how your music is performing across the platform. - Follow new promotional tools.
Be the first to receive updates about new artist features and helpful in-app resources. - Pitch the Spotify editorial team.
Submit your new music to a team of playlist curators.
Create a top-notch artist profile
- Upload quality profile images with the recommended sizing.
Avatar image – 750x750px.
Banner art – 2660x1140px.
Album art – 1:1 square, 640x640px. - Publish a bio with a unique tone of voice.
In under 1,500 characters, define your vision or artistic motivation and include links to relevant playlists, pinned artists, and related albums. - Attach other media channels.
Edit the About tab on your artist page to link your other profiles like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Wikipedia. Stay on top of the Spotify algorithm by keeping your page and social media platforms active and up-to-date.
Target your streaming audience
The Spotify pay-per-stream system isn’t a fixed metric – it varies based on several factors. Streams from listeners in countries with higher subscription costs, like the U.S. and the U.K., typically generate higher royalties than those from regions with lower subscription rates.
The system also varies between listeners with a free account and premium users, with paid subscribers contributing more per stream than those on the free, ad-supported tier.
To maximize your earnings, promote your Spotify music globally but prioritize reaching listeners in regions where payouts are higher. This approach improves revenue while still growing your overall fanbase across various markets.
Prepare a Spotify pre-release campaign
Promote new releases well in advance to gain more organic streams. Schedule release dates and send listeners a Spotify presale link for tours, merch, and campaigns through social media or email.
Submit your music to Spotify playlist curators a couple of weeks before release. Collaborate with influencers to enhance visibility, and bundle your pre-save campaign with exclusive offers like signed merch or early ticket sales to incentivize engagement.
These strategies help build anticipation and maximize streams on release day.
Do not, under any circumstances, buy fake streams to boost your traffic. Not only is this grounds for getting your account banned, but it could negatively impact rates on royalties for the music industry.
Make it happen today!
3. Create and monetize Spotify playlists
Curating playlists is one of the most effective ways to showcase your music taste while earning money. Many Spotify curators review new songs from independent artists and get paid for their feedback.
If you’re wondering how to get paid to listen to music on Spotify, become a playlist curator. It’s especially lucrative when you build a playlist with a high follower count.
To monetize curated playlists, join music review sites like SubmitHub and Playlist Push, which pay users to review music.
- A Spotify playlist curator on PlaylistPush can earn between $1.25 and $15 per song review, depending on follower count and engagement.
- SubmitHub pays similar amounts, typically ranging from $0.50 to $12 per review.
As your playlist grows in Spotify followers and active listeners, you can charge artists or labels for song placements, with typical earnings of $50 or more per track.
While promoting song placements is common among playlist curators, do not prioritize paid placements of favorite artists if it compromises the quality or integrity of the playlist. This can be considered unethical and impact your reputation as a playlist curator.
While it does happen, we don’t recommend selling Spotify playlists as it goes against the platform’s terms of service, prohibiting the transfer of ownership for monetary gain.
Grow an active listener base to increase playlist value
For playlists to become popular, creators must find a niche and offer genuine recommendations of their favorite tunes and favorite artists to like-minded fans. Building a solid following takes time and effort before monetization is possible. These tips can help you gain more listeners:
- Run social media ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok targeting your ideal audience.
- Promote through social media accounts and market your content with creative, engaging posts. Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify Ad Studio for targeted ad campaigns.
- Submit your playlists to popular music review sites to attract attention and expand your audience.
- Share on Reddit forums and YouTube to advertise your Spotify curated playlists.
Building expertise is essential if you plan to become a reviewer for specific music genres. The more you commit, the more your name is recognizable as a trusted authority in that genre.
Steps to create your first playlist
Follow the steps below to start creating your popular Spotify playlist:
- Pick a niche, genre, and theme to create playlists that are distinct and engaging.
- Optimize the playlist description with relevant SEO-friendly keywords.
- Create original artwork and fill your Spotify playlist with 50-100 songs.
- Grow your listener base by promoting your playlist on various social media channels.
- Reach out to artists and manage song submissions and placements to start monetization.
4. Sell concert tickets to a live show
What better way to gain popularity on a streaming service than by bringing your music and online listeners to a live stage?
While digital music streaming services help artists find fans all over the world, it’s also possible to use Spotify to propel your new music career by promoting your gig at the local venue.
Spotify integrates with ticket sales websites like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, letting listeners buy tickets to live events straight from the artist’s page. With the in-app Discovery section and promotional campaigns, artists can make more money by promoting their concerts.
5. Try podcasting
An increasingly popular way to make money on Spotify is podcasting. The best part? You don’t need to be signed to a record label or an established company to earn podcast revenue on Spotify.
Spotify is one of the few streaming services that provide monetization benefits for podcasting, including fan-support tools and integrated ad programs. Although the platform doesn’t offer royalties for podcast episodes, there are multiple ways to monetize as people listen to your content, such as with ads and sponsorships.
Read more about how podcasts make money and how much Spotify pays podcasters on our blog.
Make it happen today!
6. Expand to other music streaming platforms
While Spotify remains a leading platform, expanding to other streaming services increases your reach and income potential. Let’s look at four Spotify alternatives to host your tracks and discover other ways to get paid.
1. Apple Music
With over 100 million songs in its catalog, Apple Music has a long-standing reputation with a similar quality stream as Spotify and a comparable monthly subscription. Artists on Apple Music are paid $6-$10 on average per 1,000 streams, depending on the listener’s country.
2. Tidal
With a library of 90 million CD-quality songs, Tidal’s high-fidelity subscription has one of the finest resolution streams at a comparably higher sampling frequency than other platforms. Tidal’s active artist community offers background information, interviews, and music credits.
3. Amazon Music
The giant retail platform is a good middle ground for cost-effectiveness and overall stream volume. Amazon Music delivers a comprehensive recommendation algorithm that adapts to users’ listening habits and pays around $4 per 1,000 streams.
4. Deezer
While still a relatively smaller platform, Deezer is a well-rounded media service with over 90 million songs, providing high-fidelity streaming in addition to podcasts, audiobooks, and radio. With a great algorithm, compatibility, and lyrics function, Deezer pays artists close to $6 per 1,000 streams.
How to design and sell custom merch on Spotify with Printify
Start making money on Spotify with custom merch using a print-on-demand service that delivers hundreds of high-quality products at competitive prices.
Printify provides a revenue opportunity for artists and businesses who wish to expand their brand with apparel and accessories. With no upfront investment and no inventory, artists can link their online store on their Spotify profile and start selling custom band merch to fans worldwide.
Create your own merch and sell online with Printify in a few simple steps:
- Create a Printify account for free.
- Choose products from our Catalog.
- Add designs using the Product Creator.
- Integrate merchandise through a sales channel.
- List and promote merch while Printify takes care of printing and shipping.
FAQ
Yes! Artists can make money through music streams or by monetizing playlists, selling merch, promoting concert tickets, or creating a podcast.
If you’re wondering much does Spotify pay artists, the answer is about $3-$5 in royalties per 1,000 streams for verified musicians with an artist profile.
The exact payout varies depending on several factors, including the listener’s location and whether they are using a free or premium account.
Yes, you can make money with Spotify playlists by building a large, engaged following and monetizing it in a few ways. These methods include:
- Reviewing song submissions: Platforms like Playlist Push or SubmitHub let you earn money by reviewing music from established or emerging artists who want their songs featured on your playlist.
- Paid song placements: Charge artists or record labels directly to place their songs on your playlist, though you should approach this practice with transparency to maintain trust with listeners.
Learning how to make money listening to music on Spotify requires a few approaches. The best way is to become a playlist curator – listen to music you love while making money through song submissions.
Other methods involve using platforms like Current and InboxDollars that reward users for listening to music or discovering new artists. Participating in research or feedback programs like Slice the Pie can also provide small payouts for reviewing and rating songs.
These methods don’t directly involve Spotify but leverage third-party platforms. Keep in mind that the earnings are usually modest and are more suitable for supplementary rather than full-time income.
There are multiple methods for making money podcasting on Spotify. These include merchandising, listener donations, affiliate marketing, subscription content, ads, sponsorships, and utilizing Spotify’s podcast monetization tools.
For every 1,000 streams, Spotify pays artists an average of $3-$5. To make $1,000 on Spotify, artists must have at least 200,000 streams from listeners or use other monetization strategies shared in this article.
For 1 million streams, Spotify pays artists approximately $3,000 to $5,000, depending on your listener location and account type.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored how to earn money from a Spotify playlist and other methods, from merchandise sales to podcasting.
Here’s a quick recap on how to earn with Spotify:
- Create personalized merch to complement your music branding.
- Get more streams by optimizing your Spotify profile and finding your target audience.
- Monetize Spotify playlists through submission reviews.
- Start selling tickets to your live shows.
- Try podcasting with Spotify to unlock other unique monetization strategies.
- Expand to other streaming services with additional features and earning benefits.
With endless opportunities to grow in the music industry, we support independent artists and entrepreneurs to find unique ways to make money and build their brands. Partner with Printify to sell custom merch and reach sky-high profits doing what you love most.
