Payout proportional to the track count favors short tracks. The payout proportional to the air time favors longer tracks. As long as payouts are calculated on

Payout proportional to the track count favors short tracks. The payout proportional to the air time favors longer tracks. As long as payouts are calculated on an account per account basis, any approach is fair. A TOOL fan will probably listen 5 times fewer tracks than a Ramones fan, but it is OK because every their stream is worth 5 times as much. Though if they pool track counts (or minutes played) across multiple accounts, then different listening patterns of different accounts will always skew payouts one way or the other. And it is always unfair.