A per-stream rate is not a fixed price paid per play; it is an average derived after the fact by dividing a service's payable revenue pool among rights holders by share of total streams.
The mechanism
Most services distribute a percentage of revenue rather than paying a set amount per play. Each rights holder receives a share proportional to their share of total streams in the period, so the effective rate moves with subscriber revenue, listener territory, subscription tier and total platform volume.
A worked example
The same track can produce materially different effective rates in two months with identical stream counts, because the pool and the denominator both changed.
What it is confused with
- A price per play There is no fixed unit price to be paid. Any quoted figure is an average that has already happened.
Why it matters
Every published figure differs, and the reason is structural rather than dishonest. Planning revenue on a quoted rate assumes a price that does not exist.
Sources: US Copyright Office
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Related: Recoupment · Black box royalties · 360 deal