Proposed Act Aims to Pay Musicians Fair ‘Living Wage’ from Streaming
Musicians may soon get a bigger slice of the streaming pie if a new bill introduced in Congress becomes law. The Living Wage for Musicians Act, proposed by Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman on March 6, aims to create an additional streaming royalty for artists and performers.
The legislation was developed in collaboration with the labor group United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW). It seeks to address longstanding complaints from musicians that streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music pay out meager royalties, leaving many struggling financially despite their music’s popularity.
Under the Act, an extra royalty of one cent per stream would be paid to rights holders on top of existing streaming royalties. However, there would be a monthly cap, with the money distributed proportionally from a fund.
“Spotify, the world’s largest streaming service, pays rights-holders an average per-stream royalty of $0.003, which means it takes artists more than 800,000 monthly streams to equal a full-time $15/hour job,” the lawmakers cited in a statement.
To finance this new royalty pool, the bill proposes a 10% levy on streaming companies’ non-subscription revenue streams. It would also tack on a surcharge of 50% of the subscription cost for paying customers, ranging from $4 to $10 monthly.
Supporters argue the Act would provide a much-needed lift for working musicians, helping them afford basics like rent, home ownership, and supporting families. Funds could also subsidize touring and recording new music.
The benefits would extend beyond just performers to others involved like producers, engineers, and session musicians. Damon Krukowski, an organizer with the United Musicians group, praised it as an “artist-centered solution” after a decade of failed industry self-regulation.
While streaming has upended music distribution, critics contend the riches have flowed disproportionately to major labels and platforms rather than creators. If passed, this Act could begin rebalancing the dynamic.
“There is a lot of talk in the industry about how to ‘fix’ streaming – but the streaming platforms and major labels have already had their say for more than a decade, and they have failed musicians,” UMAW organizer and musician Damon Krukowski said in a press release.
“The Living Wage for Musicians Act presents a new, artist-centered solution to make streaming work for the many and not just the few. We need to return value to recordings by injecting more money into the system, and we need to pay artists and musicians directly for streaming their work.”
But not everyone believes this would be possible for streamers to do.
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