User-centric payouts refer to a proposed model for distributing music streaming royalties, where a subscriber's monthly fee is distributed only to the artists they actually listen to¹. This contrasts with the current 'pro-rata' system, where all subscription revenue is pooled and then distributed based on an artist's overall share of total streams across the platform². This model aims to create a fairer system for artists, particularly smaller ones, by directly linking their earnings to their individual listenership.