The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. March 16, 2021 Newly Formed Musicians' Union Demands Spotify Pay Artists a Penny Per Stream, Up from $0.0038 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Members of the newly formed Union of Musicians and Allied Workers on Monday held dozens of actions at Spotify offices around the world, protesting the streaming company's refusal to increase its payment rates to artists. Spotify currently pays most artists about a third of a cent per stream - among the lowest rates of any streaming company. Meanwhile, Spotify's value has tripled during the pandemic. This is Jitensha, a musician in Toronto.  Jitensha: "As the biggest streaming service of all the streaming services, quit paying less than 0.004 [dollars] a stream. We know you have the income. We know the shareholders have the income. We've seen the receipts." .