Getting Paid by SoundCloud for Artists
How much do I get paid if I monetize and distribute through SoundCloud for Artists?
How and when do I get paid on SoundCloud for Artists?
What do I need to do to get paid?
Why didn’t I receive a payment?
What is withholding tax / why am I being taxed?
How much do I get paid if I monetize and distribute through SoundCloud for Artists?
As of November 2025, we updated our monetization and distribution royalty share rate from 80% to 100%. You receive 100% of any earnings, whether from activity on SoundCloud or on other platforms.
Full transparency: Our payout processor now applies a small processing fee to each payout, as low as $0.50 USD. There are no hidden fees or surprise deductions. You’ll see your estimated payout fee when adding or editing your payout method.
How and when do I get paid on SoundCloud for Artists?
You will receive your payouts via the payout method you’ve added in SoundCloud for Artists. Your balance is updated at the end of each month and payments are auto-deposited once your earnings meet or exceed $25 USD. Payments are two months delayed because it takes music platforms 30-45 days to pay us, and it takes time for us to process those royalties.
Our payout processor applies a small fee to each payout, as low as $0.50 USD. There are no hidden fees or surprise deductions. You’ll see your estimated payout fee when adding or editing your payout method. You can reference a list of estimated fees here.
We now require Two-Factor Authentication (“2FA”) to be enabled on your account in order to receive SoundCloud for Artists payouts or make changes to your payout method. Here’s a link to the steps to enable 2FA.
What do I need to do to get paid?
Once you’ve monetized your music directly on SoundCloud or have distributed a release through SoundCloud for Artists, you will start generating earnings based on streams, downloads or purchases. To get set up once your earnings exceed $25 and we’re ready to pay you out:
- Go to the Earnings section of your SoundCloud for Artists account
- Click the Payouts option
- Click +Add Payout Method and select Bank Transfer or Paypal
- Enter your information as an individual, or as a business if you file taxes that way
- Select your payout method
- Once you’ve entered your payout method details, click to Submit a Tax Form
- Enter all required information and proceed through the prompts to complete your tax form
- Choose whether you’d like to receive your end-of-year tax form via E-Delivery or Postal Mail
You can return to this at any time if you need to edit your tax form or update your payout method.
Once you’ve monetized your music directly on SoundCloud or have distributed a release through SoundCloud for Artists, you will start generating earnings Follow these steps to get paid:
1. Go to the Earnings section of your SoundCloud for Artists account
2. Click the Payouts option
3. Click + Add Payout Method
4. Based on how you plan to pay taxes on your earnings, enter your General Information as an individual or business
5. Select Bank Transfer or PayPal as your payout method
6. Once you’ve entered your payout method details, click the Submit a Tax Form button
7. Enter all required information and proceed through the prompts to complete your tax form
8. Choose whether you’d like to receive your end-of-year tax form via E-Delivery or Postal Mail
You can return to this page at any time to edit your tax form or payout method.
Why didn’t I receive a payment?
The most common reason you didn’t receive your payment is that you haven’t completed your payout details or enabled 2FA on your SoundCloud account. If both of those are complete and your monthly earnings exceed $25, reach out to our team. We’ll be happy to look into why your payment hasn’t been sent yet.
What is Split Pay?
Split Pay is a tool that allows you to easily list collaborators on your tracks to give a percentage of the earnings. You enter the splits, and we take care of the rest.
Splits can be added during the distribution process before the release is approved, or after approval in the Split Pay tab!
You can now add collaborators you’d like to split earnings with by entering their SoundCloud profile URL or profile permalink. This ensures that the relevant royalties will be funneled to the right place and that your collaborators won’t end up with multiple SC4A accounts to manage.
What is withholding tax / why am I being taxed?
We implemented a tax withholding to stay compliant with earnings regulations set here in the US. The money we send to clients is recognized by the US government as income; therefore, a certain amount must be withheld so we may pay them for the amounts sent abroad. Here is the official resource. We recommend consulting a tax professional for any additional advice.