With digital streaming platforms transforming the way that music is consumed and monetized, a common discussion is around how much music streaming services pay musicians. Today we look at Tidal.
by DITTO MUSIC
Alongside industry giants Spotify and Apple Music, TIDAL offers another digital distribution option to musicians. But how much does this arguably more artist-friendly alternative pay out for your streams? Let’s dive into all things TIDAL.
TIDAL is a digital music streaming service with a catalogue of over 80 million songs and 350,000 videos from music artists all over the world.
With the company’s mission focusing around empowering artists and building better connections between them and their fans, TIDAL is committed to changing the way artists are paid – including providing higher and more transparent payments for their work.
TIDAL is often viewed as a fairer and higher quality option for artists, but how much exactly does this platform pay out to musicians?
On average, TIDAL pays out around $0.013 per stream in 2022. TIDAL is one of the select few streaming services which pays out more than 1 cent per stream, with artists needing roughly 80 streams to earn a dollar and 80,000 streams to earn $1000 (roughly £880).
On top of providing artists with higher streaming payments, TIDAL also offers a direct-to-artist payment incentive – its Direct Artists Payout program.
“Direct Artist Payouts are an innovative way for fans to more directly support their top streamed artists with HiFi Plus every month” – TIDAL
Similar to our Spotify and Apple Music guides, the exact amount of money that artists can make through music royalties on TIDAL is impossible to say, but our TIDAL Royalty Calculator can give you a general idea of how much you can potentially earn for your streams.
Interested to see how much you could be earning by releasing your music and getting streamed on TIDAL? Check out our calculator below:
https://dittomusic.com/en/blog/how-much-does-tidal-pay-per-stream/
NOTE: THE ROYALTIES PREDICTED BY THIS CALCULATOR WILL NOT BE 100% ACCURATE. IT IS AN ESTIMATE – BASED ON FIGURES FROM THE USA. MANY FACTORS AFFECT STREAMING ROYALTIES AND THIS CALCULATOR SHOULD ONLY BE USED AS A GUIDE.
A common understanding within the music industry is that TIDAL offers some of the highest streaming rates within the streaming industry, with their artist-focussed model and more expensive subscriptions for users.
This is reflected in the higher payment per stream rate paid out by the Norwegian-American company, as opposed to Spotify and Apple Music.
Spotify pays artists between $0.003 – $0.005 per stream on average, with just under 23,000 streams of your tracks needed to recieve $100 in payment.
In 2022, Apple Music pays artists $0.01 per stream on average – so essentially equalling 1 penny earned per stream.
TIDAL ranks higher than both Spotify and Apple Music in terms of royalty rate and the direct artist payouts available on the platform. It’s definitely worth weighing up your options when deciding which DSP(s) to upload your music to.
There are a few different factors that affect Tidal’s payout rate. One of these is the location of your listeners. For example, if your fans are streaming your music in Brazil (R$16.90/month) as opposed to the US ($9.99/month), then you’ll receive less solely because of the lower subscription cost and currency value in that country.
In the same way that other music platforms operate, the royalties you receive from TIDAL are based on your record label or distributor deals. The amount you’ll receive is dependent on which distribution company you’re working with – and how much of a cut they’re wanting to take!
At Ditto Music, we want to see you get the most out of your music career, which is why we work with artists to put 100% of all your royalty earnings back into your own pocket.
On top of the industry-leading rate per stream payments, TIDAL offers further financial incentives to artists using the platform through it’s HiFi Plus subscription.
HiFi Plus gives you everything HiFi offers, as well as access to Master Quality Audio recordings and innovative spatial formats like Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 reality audio.
In addition to higher quality sound for the user, this plan also pays out 10% of your subscription to your most listened to artist and lets you track how your listening habits fund your favourite artists. HiFi plus costs $/£19.99 per month.
As with any other streaming platform, the more streams you’re able to generate for your music on TIDAL, then the more chance you’ll be able to increase your royalty income from streams on the platform. 
If you’re able to boost your brand and popularity, then more users may choose to subscribe to HiFi Plus and send more of a share back to you as the artist. As with most factors in the music industry, this will come from you having a strong artist marketing strategy.
TIDAL is definitely an appealing alternative to other streaming platforms and has the potential to provide you with a bigger share of your hard-earnt streams.
Email address is not displayed with comments
Note: Use HTML tags like <b> <i> and <ul> to style your text. URLs automatically linked.
With the internet and digital technologies driving rapid change within the music industry, articles about new releases and who has been hired and fired are no longer enough. Our up to the minute industry news alongside insightful commentary helps our readers sift through the rumors and developments to find the information they need to keep their businesses moving forward.
Hypebot is read daily by more than 30,000 music industry professionals including executives and senior staff of music related tech firms, internet based music sites, every major label group and most indies as well as many managers, artists and members of the live music community:
Contact us for the latesst stats, ad rates and sponosorship opportunites. We also offer combined rates with MusicThinkTank.
“I swear by Hypebot every morning over breakfast.”
Derek Sivers
Founder, CD Baby
“Hypebot is the most focused music business centric resource we have.”
Celia Hirschman
One Little Indian, Downtown Marketing & KCRW-FM
“Well done.”
Seth Godin
Marketing guru