In a letter scheduled to be shared with artists today via the Apple Music for Artists dashboard, obtained by The Wall Street JournalApple has reportedly disclosed that it pays music rights holders one cent per song streamed on Apple Music.
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The report claims that Apple Music’s payment structure is thus roughly double what Spotify pays to music rights holders per stream, which averages about a third to half a cent per stream, although the report quotes music industry experts saying payments from Apple Music can dip lower. Apple Music’s payments come directly from the subscription-based revenue of customers of the service, the report adds.
In the letter, Apple says it pays 52% of its subscription revenue, or 52 cents of every dollar, to record labels and other music rights holders, the report said. These music rights holders, in turn, pay artists based on their recording, publishing and distribution agreements, so artists may not receive the full penny per stream.
“As the discussion about streaming royalties continues, we believe it is important to share our values,” Apple said in the letter. “We believe every creator should pay the same rate, that a play has a value, and creators never have to pay” for their music to appear in prominent areas of the Apple Music app.
Spotify has significantly more users than Apple Music worldwide, with 155 million paid subscribers and 345 million total users at the end of 2020. The last known number of Apple Music subscribers is about 60 million, including those with a free trial period, but Apple hasn’t updated this one. figure in almost two years now.