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Musicians Are Making Bitcoin from Your Streamingv

Bitcoin today hovers around $95,500, marking a steady rise in prominence across industries, including music. Platforms like Wavlake and Fountain are reshaping how musicians earn, offering Bitcoin payments directly from fans, unlike traditional streaming services with minimal royalties. Artists such as Ainsley Costello have earned over $13,000 in Bitcoin in just one year—far exceeding traditional platform payouts.

This integration of Bitcoin not only boosts artist earnings but also fosters deeper connections with fans through micropayments. As Bitcoin cements its role in the financial and cultural landscape, its impact on the music industry signals a new era of creative empowerment.

Measly streaming royalties

Musicians have long complained about the measly payments they receive from streams. Spotify’s average pay per stream is between $0.004 and $0.0004 per stream. Spotify themselves say, “Contrary to what you might have heard, Spotify does not pay artist royalties according to a per-play or per-stream rate; the royalty payments that artists receive might vary according to differences in how their music is streamed or the agreements they have with labels or distributors.

Apple Music’s average payment is said to be $0.01, meaning if an artist is streamed one million times, they’d receive about $10,000. Like with Spotify, these payments depend on the artist’s agreement with their label and the specifics of their contract. Apple says, “We pay the same 52% headline rate to all labels”. They also pay publishers and licensors the same headline rate for compositions (rather than recordings), meaning that songwriters should receive the same rate for any covers.

Snoop Dogg famously said that he made less than $45,000 from a billion streams. Yahoo Finance reported that Snoop was drawn to NFTs after learning of his streaming income.

On alternative platforms, streaming royalties are paid in satoshis, or sats, which are fractions of a bitcoin. The musician Ainsley Costello recently told Forbes, “In five years on the traditional DSPs [Digital Streaming Platforms], I’ve made only $750 in streaming royalties from over 500,000 streams”. Costello has distributed to Valueverse (the group of platforms including Wavlake and Fountain) for one year – and has already reaped the benefits. Costello has made the equivalent of $13,278.72 (as of September 23).

Man Like Kweks, the Tanzanian hip-hop artist, has earned just $25.68 from traditional DSPs. But he’s earned the equivalent of $1,500 of sats – and that’s just from Wavlake.

Music listeners on platforms like Wavlake and Fountain can “zap” or “boost” their favourite artists – essentially tipping them for the pleasure of listening. A “zap” uses the Lightning Network, which is built on Bitcoin.

Nostr – more “zaps”

Artists like Man Like Kweks also use Nostr, which is where the term “zap” was popularized. Nostr may play a significant part in musicians’ earnings in the future. Users send each other tips and feedback, and UK singer-songwriter Joe Martin told Forbes, “I can foresee a future where I could release a ‘sneak peek’ of a newly written song, or behind the scenes at an important gig and a few hundred of my followers could zap me a dollar or $0.50 worth of sats”.

Kweks says the platform has been important for his music. He posts songs, interacts with fans, and collaborates with other artists. Costello enjoys Nostr for the “intimate” relationship between musicians and fans, saying that “zaps” mean more than likes and loves on traditional social media platforms. He notes, “The amount doesn’t matter but the intent — be it a few cents or a few dollars — speaks volumes.

The story behind Wavlake

Wavlake was founded in 2022 when Sam Means and Michael Rhee wanted to make it easier for musicians to upload songs and get paid. Means had worked in the music industry since the early 2000s, promoting shows, running a merchandise business, and helping to manage his own band during touring. In 2014, he started hearing about Bitcoin. Later, Means found that Rhee had prepared an early version of Wavlake, and he helped test the platform before its launch. In a 2024 interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Means described Costello as “the first Wavlake superstar.”

Nostr launched soon after Wavlake. Listeners can now log in with Nostr on Wavlake. Means described the process of “pushing through” any technical difficulties and completing your vision, saying “you have to start somewhere.”

Means was asked in the interview how long it might take for Wavlake to replace a platform like Spotify. Means viewed Wavlake as ready for “the normies” and said that more people will be attracted to Bitcoin through music, entertainment, and social media.

Most artists, according to Means, earn about $0.12 per “zap”. Means pointed out that Costello had only made roughly $600 in her time as a musician before Wavlake, before making $1,500 in her first couple of months on the platform. 

Wavlake worked with artists on their platform to produce a record 11-track LP in collaboration with Bitcoin Magazine. The record’s a limited-edition release and only 500 copies were pressed. The album is described as “a testament to the power of community and technology coming together to celebrate and support music.” The album is available on the Lightning store. 

With the vast differences in streaming royalties, perhaps an increasing number of musicians will be joining platforms like Wavlake.