Streaming royalties are the revenue your music earns every time it’s played, downloaded or used on a digital platform. Andina Music collects the platforms’ reports, consolidates them in your dashboard by platform, territory, period and track, and pays out under your distribution agreement. This page explains how music royalties are generated, when platforms report and what you’ll see in your statements.
How streaming royalties are generated
Each platform pays for the consumption of your music according to its own model. On subscription services such as Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer, revenue is generally shared among rights holders in proportion to the plays each recording accumulates in a market and period (a pro-rata model). On YouTube and other ad-supported services, revenue depends on the ads shown next to the content. On download stores such as the iTunes Store or Amazon, each sale generates a fixed share of the price. The amount per stream therefore varies by platform, country, subscription type and month; there’s no single, fixed rate.
Recording royalties vs songwriter royalties
The royalties a distributor collects are those of the sound recording (the master). The composition (lyrics and music) generates separate royalties, collected through publishing: collecting societies and publishers. If you write your own songs, register with a collecting society or a publishing administrator to collect that second stream; distribution alone doesn’t cover it.
How and when platforms report
Platforms send usage and revenue reports to the distributor with a delay of one to two months after the period in which the plays happened. Some services report monthly, others quarterly, and adjustments can arrive later. That’s why the royalties for a release published this month usually appear in your dashboard two to three months later, and why the first statement of a new release is often smaller than the following ones.
What your reports show
- By platform: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok and every other service that delivered revenue.
- By territory: the countries where your music was played and what each one paid.
- By period: the month or quarter the platform reported.
- By release and track: each recording is identified by its ISRC and each release by its UPC, which is why reusing the same codes on every delivery matters.
- Downloadable history to reconcile with your own accounting or to pay your artists if you’re a label.
Payouts
Andina Music consolidates the platforms’ reports and pays royalties periodically under your distribution agreement, once the platforms have paid the corresponding period. The agreement sets the payment schedule, the share and the payment method. We don’t advance royalties and we don’t guarantee amounts: payouts depend strictly on what the platforms report and pay.
Your rights and your earnings
Your master and your composition remain yours. Andina Music only receives the authorizations needed to distribute and administer your content and to collect the recording royalties it generates, and pays them out under your agreement. Any splits between band members, producers or featured artists are handled by you according to your own agreements; the statements give you the detail to do so.
Frequently asked questions about royalties
How much does a stream pay?
There’s no fixed rate. It depends on the platform, the country, the type of subscription and the month, because most services split their revenue pro rata among all the plays in a market. Your reports show the real amount each platform paid for your tracks.
Why do the first royalties take so long to appear?
Platforms report with a one- to two-month delay, and payouts follow the agreement’s schedule. The first statement of a release usually arrives two to three months after its release date.
Can I see where my income comes from?
Yes. Reports are broken down by platform, territory, period, release and track, with downloadable history.
Does Andina Music collect my songwriter royalties?
No. Distribution collects recording royalties. Songwriter and publishing royalties are collected through collecting societies and publishers; we can point you to the right option for your case.
Do you pay labels differently from artists?
Labels receive reports broken down by artist and release so they can pay their roster, and are paid under their own agreement. See distribution for labels.
Questions about your reports?
Whether you’re planning your first release or comparing statements from another distributor, tell us your case and we’ll walk you through the numbers.
