[gxigzigxigxi]

They do sum it up. $5k for 1M streams. Which is reasonable or not compared to CDs depending on your assumptions. Let’s say a CD has ten tracks and the average buyer plays a CD five times. That’s fifty streams per buyer. One million streams yields twenty thousand CD buyers under this assumption. CDs are $10 (or were the last time I bought them ages ago). That means $200k gross, but the band would probably not see more than 20% of that at the most optimistic. Still, $5k is a lot less than $40k.

But if you double the number of plays a typical CD buyer would listen, and halve the band’s cut, you’re suddenly in the same neighborhood. You also have to factor in that many Spotify streams are not full track listens.

[jsjohnst]

Last time I heard a number, bands got a single digit percentage of the sale of a CD.

Edit:

Quick web search shows I’m right.

https://bandzoogle.com/blog/record-sales-where-does-the-mone...

[gxigzigxigxi]

Thanks. So if the artist is both the performer and the writer, they get about ten percent. So that’s one power of two accounted for. I think my assumption about the typical number of CD listens is also quite conservative.

[jsjohnst]

I agree, I think it was conservative. So your root point appears valid.