Apple Music pays a penny per stream on average

Apple Music’s payment rate for artists and labels is a penny per stream on average, according to a letter from the company posted on its artist dashboard, viewed by The Verge, and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. That payment rate is higher than Spotify, which has a confusing variable rate scheme that basically tops out at a half-penny per stream. Apple says in the letter that its rates vary by subscription plan and country but average to a penny-per-stream.

Announcing an average penny-per-stream rate is a nice PR win for Apple Music, since it is 1. very simple and 2. Spotify hates talking about its per-stream payments, which the company insists are a misleading figure. Seriously, it just launched an entire website called L...

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