Spotify made headlines recently, as the company announced that it would be revising its royalty system. While this would only mean that songs would need 1,000 streams now to qualify for payments, it does raise questions about how much the streams add up — especially when it comes to major hits that reach a billion plays.
Here’s what to know about how much artists make when they reach that feat.
How Much Does Spotify Pay For 1 Billion Streams?
This week, Snoop Dogg opened up about what he got from Spotify for a billion streams, during his recent interview on the Business Untitled podcast. Spoiler: He wasn’t very pleased with the amount.
“In the streaming world, I could show you right now, they sent me some sh*t from Spotify where I got a billion streams,” Snoop Dogg said. “My publisher hit me. I said, ‘Break that down. How much money is that?’ That sh*t wasn’t even $45,000.”
The platform reportedly pays about $.003 per single stream, however, Spotify has denied that they pay per stream. In theory, Snoop Dogg should have been getting at least three million for reaching a billion streams, based on the calculations. NY Daily News also estimated a similar figure earlier this year when Britney Spears’ “Toxic” hit 1 billion streams.