The American Music Fairness Act: A Strategic Equity Movement for Radio Royalties In the spring of 2025, the music industry’s long-standing debate over broadcast radio royalties re-entered the legislative spotlight with the renewed push for the American Music...
Royalties & Bundles: How “All-in-One” Plans Cut Payouts — and When Clarity Might Arrive When a streaming service adds audiobooks (or other media) to a music plan and calls it a bundle, U.S. mechanical royalties for songwriters can be calculated at a discounted...
Taylor Swift’s Fight for Her Masters & What It Means for Creator Rights In the high-stakes intersection of creativity and commerce, few stories illustrate the power dynamics of ownership better than Taylor Swift’s years-long battle over her master recordings....
Every Play Pays™ — How Your Music Earns, and Why the Details Matter Your music did the work. The streams were delivered. The plays happened. Now the question is: did every play pay? At Studio Budgets, our mantra is Every Play Pays™. That means we believe your music...
2025 Tax Overhaul Impacts Royalty Earnings The tax landscape for music creators is changing rapidly. Effective January 2025, new IRS and regulatory provisions introduce tailored treatments for royalty income—from cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on mechanical...
Per-Stream Payout Comparisons: Apple Leads, Peloton Surprises In January 2025, new data show that per-stream payouts across digital platforms remain vastly different — and that difference matters to creators. Platforms like Apple Music and non-traditional services...
All the Ways — and I Mean All - that Creator Make Money from Music Why this matters In an era where streaming dominates and traditional income sources shift, understanding every income stream available and how it works is the difference between scratching by and...
Drake and Allegations of Fake Billion Streams: What It Means for Streaming Integrity As of early November 2025, the music industry is again wrestling with streaming-fraud allegations, and one of its biggest names—Drake—is cited at the center of a new class-action...
The State of Artist Royalties in 2025: What Every Music Creator Needs to Know The music industry is generating more revenue than ever, yet the question of who benefits remains front and center for creators. With streaming payouts reaching historic highs, AI disrupting...
The economics of music streaming are undergoing a subtle but profound shift that has artists and labels recalibrating their expectations for royalty revenue. In late 2025, reports indicate that Spotify is preparing to raise U.S. subscription prices in early 2026, following a series of increases in international markets.1 Labels have openly encouraged higher subscription fees, arguing that longstanding low pricing has constrained revenue pools necessary for fairer artist compensation.2
For recording artists, this development matters for more than fan cost: royalty distribution is tethered to the size of the revenue pool. Platforms typically distribute approximately 70% of total revenue to rights holders, and when subscription revenue remains stagnant while costs increase, the portion available for artist payouts may stagnate or compress.3 Higher subscription prices — even incremental ones — could expand the overall pool from which royalties are allocated, potentially improving the scale of payouts across the board.
From the label perspective, pushing for higher subscription pricing is a strategic attempt to enhance structural revenue, not merely add consumer burden. Labels know that negotiating rate increases or structural reform at the mechanical rights level can take years; expanding revenue in the short term through pricing adjustments is an actionable lever in the near term. For this reason, executives have publicly supported price adjustments, viewing them as part of a long-term effort to recalibrate the unit economics of streaming.2
At the same time, market dynamics and fan behavior must be considered. Historical price increases in markets like the U.K. and Australia have not resulted in significant churn, suggesting that subscriber bases tolerate thoughtful adjustments when accompanied by product value enhancements.3 From an analytical standpoint, this trend reflects consumer resilience and a willingness to pay more for high-value, on-demand music access — especially when subscription pricing remains lower than those for video streaming services.
In summary, rising subscription prices could reshape the royalty landscape by expanding the revenue available for distribution to rights holders and easing some of the financial pressure experienced by artists. For labels and creators alike, this trend reinforces the importance of transparent conversations about how subscription revenue drives economic outcomes across the ecosystem.
The American Music Fairness Act: A Strategic Equity Movement for Radio Royalties In the spring of 2025, the music industry’s long-standing debate over broadcast radio royalties re-entered the legislative spotlight with the renewed push for the American Music...