Peloton Pays 10x More in Royalties than Spotify, Artists Discover

Many people don’t necessarily associate Peloton with the streaming services ecosystem. However, the exercise gear and media company has outperformed major players like Spotify and Apple Music. Despite offering access to other DSPs on its exercise equipment, such as indoor bikes and treadmills, Peloton also runs its own streaming-only service, which features a curated and licensed catalog.

Naturally, the service operates differently from traditional DSPs, as it can only be accessed through the company’s products, specifically the machines, which start at approximately 1,699 EUR. Additionally, many independent distributors don’t deliver music directly to Peloton.

Consequently, it’s not a platform most artists and listeners can easily access. Nevertheless, its per-stream royalty rate is significantly higher than its competitors, making it an interesting player in the music streaming economy—at least for now, before the company decides to decrease its royalty payouts just like the rest of the DSPs

Musician and content creator Benn Jordan has analyzed and compared the per-stream payouts of various platforms in 2024. He revealed that the majority of streaming services paid less than a penny per stream, including YouTube ($0,0027), Spotify ($0,0029), Apple Music ($0,0061), and Deezer ($0,007). In contrast, Peloton paid an impressive $3 cents per stream.

Indie artist Steven Cravis reported a similar finding. After receiving his royalty payment from Tunecore, he discovered he was paid $1,078.46 for 26,456 streams of his track “Dark Crystal” on Peloton. The total payout for the number of streams suggests an even higher per-stream royalty rate than Jordan’s reported average—$0.0407.

Notably, Cravis discovered that his track was featured on a Halloween-themed Peloton cycling class playlist under the artist name Happy Halloween Music. While the track performed well on Peloton, it failed to meet Spotify’s minimum yearly stream requirement, earning him $0 for this artist’s music on the platform since January 2024.

Spotify implemented a new royalty model in April 2024, reportedly to combat fraudulent streams and prevent them from cutting into the music royalty pool. Under this model, a track must earn a minimum of 1,000 streams in a 12-month period for the artist to be eligible to receive royalties from the platform. However, the change in the model has also penalized legitimate yet smaller artists like Cravis, whose royalties have been reduced to $0 due to the new requirements.

If you’re reading this article and thinking you’d like to explore getting your music on Peloton, we’ve got you covered! With iMusician, you can distribute your tracks to 200+ streaming platforms and download shops, including Peloton!