The streaming platform offering the highest artist payouts isn't a traditional music service—it's Peloton. Independent artist Steven Cravis recently received $1,078.46 for 26,456 streams on the fitness platform, averaging $0.0407 per stream.

Peloton's per-stream rate significantly outperforms major streaming services:

• Peloton: $0.0407 per stream
• Tidal: $0.0088 per stream
• Apple Music: $0.0068 per stream
• Spotify: $0.0035 per stream
• YouTube: $0.0015 per stream

Cravis's success came from a single track, "Dark Crystal," released under the name Happy Halloween Music. The song was featured in a Halloween-themed Peloton cycling class playlist alongside other spooky selections like "I Put A Spell On You (Floorplan Remix)" and music from the Beetlejuice soundtrack.

Notably, while Cravis earned over $1,000 from Peloton in October, he earned nothing from Spotify for the same track. This disparity stems from Spotify's new requirement that tracks must achieve at least 1,000 streams in 12 months to qualify for royalty payments—a policy intended to combat fraud but potentially affecting legitimate artists.

While Peloton's reach is smaller than major streaming platforms, its superior payment rate demonstrates the potential for alternative streaming models to provide better compensation for artists.

Related Articles

Previous Articles