Goal: fair, understandable payouts that work across the €3.99, €7.99, €11.99 and yearly plans while Wavswap keeps enough revenue to operate.
In simple words: during the month every artist sees their credits and estimated money in Account Settings. A countdown shows when the pool closes. After month end Wavswap automatically freezes the result. After the safety hold, that finalized money can be requested for payment.
Credits versus money: all Artist Credits remain visible as proof of download demand. Only the part backed by a verified paid Stripe or PayPal subscription can create money. Complimentary or promotional credits do not create a creator pool. If old paid subscriptions still need verification, the dashboard says so; those credits are not silently discarded.
Older history: artists see an estimated all-time total, their finalized total and the amount available to request. Wavswap first verifies old provider payments, then compares previously finalized months with a read-only preview. A reviewed reconciliation is explicitly unlocked, confirmed and permanently audited before any old result changes. New months continue automatically.
Reading the Artist Earnings page: All-time earnings always covers every recorded year and is never changed by the date filter. Selected date range is an exploration view for the dates the artist chooses. Current month is shown separately with its countdown and remains an estimate until month end. A short explanation appears only when an established artist has unusually low paid-backed coverage; new artists and normal results are not shown a warning.
What is automatic: verified downloads update artist estimates during the month. After the month closes, the scheduler freezes every artist's weighted share automatically. WavCash works separately: a normal user's loyalty reward is calculated when an eligible Stripe or PayPal subscription payment is verified, and any completed hold is released automatically. Neither system sends external money automatically.
Wavswap monthly creator-pool formula:
Verified redeemed value = (Verified eligible payment ÷ Credits granted) × money-eligible download credits used this month
Monthly Creator Pool = Verified redeemed value × 50%
Artist Weight = Artist money-eligible credits × Artist rate (normally 40%, negotiated up to 50%)
Artist Month Result = Monthly Creator Pool × Artist Weight ÷ All Artists' Weights
- Wavswap puts at most 50% of verified redeemed value into the creator pool and keeps at least 50% before operating costs.
- The standard artist rate weight is 40%. A negotiated artist agreement can be set from its effective date up to 50%. More credits produce more weight, and with equal credits the artist with the higher rate earns more.
- Only provider-verified subscription payments count. Eligible revenue excludes known tax, refunds, chargebacks and provider fees when available.
- Payment coverage shows how many Artist Credits are currently backed by verified paid-subscription credits. A low coverage percentage explains why a large lifetime credit number can temporarily show little money.
- Every money-eligible credit is matched to the verified payment that created it. This handles monthly and yearly plans fairly without pretending that every credit has the same euro value.
- If one listener downloads several artists, each artist earns only for the credits used on their own sounds. The same credit can never be paid twice.
- Artist Credits show demand; downloaded items show track count; Artist Revenue shows money. A normal audio download is usually 2 credits while a supported project-file download is usually 15, so credits and item count are not the same number. Wavswap reads the real deducted amount.
- The current month shows an estimate and a countdown because the creator pool and every artist's share change as verified downloads arrive. The scheduler freezes the final result automatically after month end, then the refund/dispute hold runs before it becomes available for payout.
- A full album or sample pack counts the real credit cost of every newly downloaded track inside it for its creator. Already-owned tracks and free re-downloads do not create a second earning.
- The private Artist Earnings panel appears only when the login has the approved Artists PRO REAL role and the exact approved artist-profile link. Future approved artists receive the same panel automatically; normal users continue to see only their usual credits, subscription and WavCash features.
- Spending 15 credits to generate your own AI sample is a Wavswap generation-service charge, not a listener download and not an artist royalty. A later listener download of the published result counts normally.
- Collaborating artists attached to the same track share that track's artist amount.
- Month-end earnings have a 30-day hold for refunds and disputes. Available amounts roll over until the €25 minimum is reached.
In Account Settings, artists can request a payout. Wavswap receives an email and a backstage request. The calculations, balances and request notifications are automatic; Wavswap only sends the external payment and then records its payment reference. Artist Revenue is separate from WavCash loyalty rewards.