In the viral post, the rapper revealed he spent $30,000 over six years chasing his dream, only to earn $199.39 from streaming between May 2019 and June 2025. That’s a return of less than 0.7% — or as he put it, “basically nothing.”
“It’s a gut punch,”
Says the rapper, who explained that his earnings came from about 49,847 total streams, averaging 692 a month. That works out to just $33.23 a year.
Here’s the reality: on Spotify, artists typically make between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream. At those rates, you need roughly 250 plays to make $1 — and to cover a $30,000 investment, you’d need around 7.5 million streams.
“Most independent artists will never see those numbers without a viral moment or a label pushing them,” says one music industry analyst.
While independent artists are scraping by, the music streaming industry is booming. In 2025, global streaming revenue hit $17.5 billion, an 11.5% jump from the year before. In the U.S., streaming now accounts for 84% of all music industry revenue, with over 100 million paying subscribers.
But most of that money isn’t going to smaller acts. Take Atlanta’s biggest star, Drake — estimates suggest he makes $245,549 a year from just his fans in that city alone. Meanwhile, many local artists are making less than a few hundred dollars.
For serious musicians, $30,000 isn’t unusual. Recording, mixing, mastering, promotion, and distribution all add up. Major labels can spend up to $2 million to break an artist — and they have teams, marketing budgets, and connections that independents can’t match.
Even though independent artists earned $4.5 billion on Spotify in 2023, that figure is split among hundreds of thousands of creators — meaning the majority get just pennies.
It’s not just unknown artists feeling the squeeze. Even Sevdaliza, a critically acclaimed independent singer with more than 1 million monthly listeners, has said she “can’t afford to take a week off” because streaming revenue is so low.
With 78% of listeners getting their music from streaming services, platforms like Spotify and Apple Music are essential for visibility — but for many, they’re more like a marketing tool than a paycheck.
Some services are trying to change things. Tidal pays significantly more per stream than Spotify, and Amazon Music offers one of the best payouts per 1,000 plays. Sites like Bandcamp give artists more direct revenue and even hold “Bandcamp Fridays,” where 100% of profits go to the creator — but their audience is much smaller.
Until bigger platforms change their payout structures, experts say artists must rely on a mix of touring, merchandise, licensing deals, and direct fan support to make ends meet.
The Atlanta rapper’s story is a reminder that behind the glossy streaming playlists and billion-dollar industry headlines are thousands of working musicians wondering how long they can keep going. He wrote in his post,
“The math doesn’t add up — and it’s time we talk about it.”
