How many Spotify streams are needed to earn the average wage in America?
Mississippi would be the best place in America to earn a living as an artist on Spotify, a new study has revealed.
The analysis by Pirate, the world’s leading provider of rehearsal and recording facilities for artists, compared the average weekly wage in each state with the average amount an artist earns from a single Spotify stream, to discover how many plays would be needed to earn a standard wage across the country.
The results reveal that Mississippi residents would require the fewest Spotify streams to earn the average wage, with the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the average weekly wage in the state is $933.
This means that, based on industry estimates of $0.0032 per stream on the platform, an artist would need to generate 291,563 streams each week to match the wage.
That equates to 15,161,250 streams per year to earn the state’s average annual salary of $48,516.
A music artist living in Arkansas – where the second fewest Spotify streams would be needed to match the state’s average wage – would need more than one million more streams each year than in Mississippi.
The average weekly wage in Arkansas is $1,036, which requires 323,750 streams per week, and 16,835,000 over a whole year.
Third in the list is West Virginia, with a slightly higher average weekly salary of $1,042 which translates to 325,625 streams per week.
At the other end of the scale, aspiring music stars living in Washington need more than half a million streams each week – 517,813 – to match the state’s average weekly income of $1,657, which is the highest in the country. That works out at a massive 26,926,250 streams needed per year.
Massachusetts has the second highest number of streams needed to match its average weekly wage of $1,651, with 515,938 plays required, while New York is just behind in third with 502,500 streams needed to match $1,608 per week.
Nationally, the average wage across the US is $1,334 per week, which translates to 416,875 streams per week.
Commenting on the study, a spokesperson for Pirate said: “This study offers a fascinating insight into the scale of success an artist would need just to earn the average wage from Spotify across America. To earn around one thousand dollars a week from Spotify, an artist would need to have more than 15 million streams per year.
“Obviously artists will rely on multiple streams of income rather than earning from just one platform, but this still shows the heights that performers have to reach to have the chance of earning a living solely from music.”
The study was conducted by Pirate, a music technology company that operates fully automated and self-service 24-hour music studios across the UK, US and Germany.
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Top ten states where fewest Spotify streams are needed to earn average wage
| State | Average weekly wage | Streams per week | Streams per month | Streams per year |
| Mississippi | $ 933 | 291,563 | 1,263,438 | 15,161,250 |
| Arkansas | $ 1,036 | 323,750 | 1,402,917 | 16,835,000 |
| West Virginia | $ 1,042 | 325,625 | 1,411,042 | 16,932,500 |
| Oklahoma | $ 1,047 | 327,188 | 1,417,813 | 17,013,750 |
| South Dakota | $ 1,052 | 328,750 | 1,424,583 | 17,095,000 |
| Montana | $ 1,059 | 330,938 | 1,434,063 | 17,208,750 |
| Idaho | $ 1,063 | 332,188 | 1,439,479 | 17,273,750 |
| South Carolina | $ 1,079 | 337,188 | 1,461,146 | 17,533,750 |
| Kentucky | $ 1,082 | 338,125 | 1,465,208 | 17,582,500 |
Top ten states where most Spotify streams are needed to earn average wage
| State | Average weekly wage | Streams per week | Streams per month | Streams per year |
| Washington | $ 1,657 | 517,813 | 2,243,854 | 26,926,250 |
| Massachusetts | $ 1,651 | 515,938 | 2,235,729 | 26,828,750 |
| New York | $ 1,608 | 502,500 | 2,177,500 | 26,130,000 |
| California | $ 1,601 | 500,313 | 2,168,021 | 26,016,250 |
| Connecticut | $ 1,491 | 465,938 | 2,019,063 | 24,228,750 |
| New Jersey | $ 1,461 | 456,563 | 1,978,438 | 23,741,250 |
| Colorado | $ 1,432 | 447,500 | 1,939,167 | 23,270,000 |
| Maryland | $ 1,418 | 443,125 | 1,920,208 | 23,042,500 |
| Virginia | $ 1,380 | 431,250 | 1,868,750 | 22,425,000 |
