For: Earning artists (EA) and label managers (LM) waiting for streams to show up as money You'll need: A rough idea of when your release came out and which stores it's on Time: 3 minutes
There's a long gap between a stream happening and the matching cent landing in your wallet. This article walks the timeline so you can tell whether something's missing or just on its way.
Quick answer
Streaming services pay us monthly, two to three months in appears. So plays from January typically show up in your wallet in late March or April. If you released this month and don't see anything yet, that's expected come back after the next statement.
The earnings timeline
Stream happens — counted by the DSP immediately, visible in your Analytics within 1–3 days.
DSP closes the month — usually end of the calendar month.
DSP sends a statement — typically 30–60 days after month-close.
We process the statement and split the money — earnings land in your wallet as pending.
Earnings clear — after the clearing window, pending flips to cleared and is payable.
So a stream on March 5 might appear in your wallet around late May, and be payable in June.
Symptom → cause → fix
Analytics shows streams but wallet shows zero — Analytics is real-time-ish; wallet runs on monthly statements. See Article 3.4 — What's in my Wallet and how do balances update?.
Wallet shows money but most of it is "pending" — that's the clearing window doing its job. See Article 3.6 — Why is some money "pending" instead of payable?.
Earnings look lower than expected — check whether you have a royalty split on the release. Your wallet only shows your share. Open the release's splits view to see who else is receiving a slice. See Article 3.1 — How do royalty splits work?.
A specific store is missing entirely — small or regional stores sometimes pay on a different cadence (quarterly, even bi-annually). That's a DSP-side schedule, not a missing statement.
You expected an old release to start paying again after an update — DSPs reset some reporting when metadata changes. The next statement should resolve it.
Why qualified plays don't all become money
Not every play is paid. Your Analytics page distinguishes qualified plays from raw plays — only qualified plays generate royalties. See Article 5.2 — Why are some plays "qualified" and others not? if your stream count and earnings feel mismatched.
When to contact support
Wallet hasn't updated in 60+ days even though a release has been live and streaming.
A statement came in but a release you own clearly isn't included.
Cleared balance looks wildly off from what Analytics suggests.
Have the release name, the month you expected, and the store handy.