No. 12Financial Terms
Streaming Royalties
Also called digital royalties, streaming rate, DSP royalties, digital performance royalties
How your share of streaming revenue is calculated, typically a small fraction of what platforms pay the label.
High risk
Outdated 'new media' clauses in older contracts routinely apply steep discounts to streaming income.
- Appears in
- Recording Agreement, Distribution Agreement, 360 Deal
- Topic
- Royalties
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Reviewed
- July 2026
In plain English
When platforms like Spotify or Apple Music pay the label for streams, the artist receives only their royalty rate applied to the label's net receipts, not a direct per-stream payment. Labels may also apply legacy deductions ('new media' rates at 75% of standard) that were written before streaming existed and were never updated.
Why it matters
Streaming is now the dominant revenue format. A 1% effective rate difference on streaming income compounds enormously across millions of streams. Legacy 'new media' clauses can reduce your streaming income by 25% permanently.
Where it can land
The same clause is drafted three ways. These are the positions we see, worst first, so you can tell at a glance which one is in front of you.
- Streaming treated as 'new technology' at 75% of standard royalty rate
- Label applies packaging or free goods deductions to streaming income
- No direct streaming accounting, artist only sees aggregate 'digital income' line
- Streaming rate equal to standard rate but calculated on a reduced base
- No audit rights on DSP-level reporting
- Streaming royalty equal to 100% of the standard royalty rate applied to net receipts
- Itemised streaming reporting by platform provided with each accounting statement
The language
The drafting language and the negotiation moves for this clause are part of the workspace.
You have read what the clause means and where the risk sits. The rest is the side-by-side of how it reads when it is against you and when it is not, plus the specific moves that get it there.