https://www.unionofmusicians.org/justice-at-spotify 0 Skip to Content UMAW Join Us News Who We Are Subcommittees Current Page: Justice At Spotify Resources Open Menu Close Menu UMAW Join Us News Who We Are Subcommittees Current Page: Justice At Spotify Resources Open Menu Close Menu Join Us News Who We Are Subcommittees Current Page: Justice At Spotify Resources Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 1.40.47 PM.png Join us March 15th at 1pm for our worldwide Justice at Spotify Day of Action. We will be holding demonstrations at Spotify offices across the world to deliver our demands. We are demanding a penny per stream, increased transparency, an end to lawsuits against artists, and more. Register below for the action closest to you. USA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlanta, GA Birmingham, MI Boston, MA Chicago, IL Dallas, TX Los Angeles, CA Miami, FL Nashville, TN New York, NY San Francisco, CA Rest of World --------------------------------------------------------------------- Manilla, Phillipines Melbourne, Australia Milano, Italy Oslo, Norway Paris, France Sao Paulo, Brazil Singapore Stockholm, Sweden Sydney, Australia Toronto, Canada Amsterdam, Netherlands Antwerp, Belgium Berlin, Germany Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico Copenhagen, Denmark Dusseldorf, Germany Frankfurt, Germany Hamburg, Germany Helsinki, Finland London, UK Madrid, Spain Sign on to Our Demands Espanol Spotify is the most dominant platform on the music streaming market. The company behind the streaming platform continues to accrue value, yet music workers everywhere see little more than pennies in compensation for the work they make. With the entire live music ecosystem in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic, music workers are more reliant on streaming income than ever. We are calling on Spotify to deliver increased royalty payments, transparency in their practices, and to stop fighting artists. Share with other musicians and allies: * Share on Facebook * Tweet * Submit to Reddit * Send email What We Are Asking For Pay us at least one cent per stream Adopt a user-centric payment model Make all closed-door contracts public Reveal existing payola, then end it altogether Credit all labor in recordings End legal battles intended to further impoverish artists [image-asse] View the Full List of Demands Why We Are Asking For It Pay Us At Least One Cent Per Stream - One of Spotify's core goals is to give "a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art." Yet, to generate a single dollar on the platform, a song needs to be streamed 263 times. To put that in perspective, it would take 786 streams to generate enough revenue to buy an average cup of coffee. To pay the median American monthly rent ($1,078) an artist needs to generate 283,684 recurring streams monthly. And to earn $15/ hr each month working full time, it would take 657,895 streams per band member.We are asking Spotify to raise the average streaming royalty from $.0038 to a penny per stream. Doing so would give artists a better chance at making a living from their art, and begin to restore the public valuation of music. Pay Us At Least One Cent Per Stream One of Spotify's core goals is to give "a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art." Yet, to generate a single dollar on the platform, a song needs to be streamed 263 times. To put that in perspective, it would take 786 streams to generate enough revenue to buy an average cup of coffee. To pay the median American monthly rent ($1,078) an artist needs to generate 283,684 recurring streams monthly. And to earn $15/hr each month working full time, it would take 657,895 streams per band member. We are asking Spotify to raise the average streaming royalty from $.0038 to a penny per stream. Doing so would give artists a better chance at making a living from their art, and begin to restore the public valuation of music. Be Transparent - Major record labels own a huge percentage of Spotify's catalog. With their leverage they are able to dictate the terms of their own streaming royalties and negotiate their own complex payment structures. It also gives them preferential treatment when it comes to editorial and algorithmic playlisting, something that all artists depend on.We are calling on Spotify to be more transparent with their finances, their platform, and their relationships with artists. Make all deals with major labels public, and to end practices that resemble payola. In addition, we urge Spotify to give due credit to all engineers, musicians and laborers on all recordings. Be Transparent Major record labels own a huge percentage of Spotify's catalog. With their leverage they are able to dictate the terms of their own streaming royalties and negotiate their own complex payment structures. It also gives them preferential treatment when it comes to editorial and algorithmic playlisting, something that all artists depend on. We are calling on Spotify to be more transparent with their finances, their platform, and their relationships with artists. Make all deals with major labels public, and to end practices that resemble payola. In addition, we urge Spotify to give due credit to all engineers, musicians and laborers on all recordings. Stop Fighting Artists - Spotify positions itself as the ultimate tool for artists to connect with and acquire new fans - but those aspirations frequently come in conflict with their bottom line and their business model. They ask artists to generate more and more content, saying "You can't record music once every three to four years and think that's going to be enough." Their own director of economics, Will Page, has stated that switching the platform to a user-centric model would be too difficult to implement because of "significant financial costs to adopting and implementing user-centric distribution." Spotify should be fighting for the artists who built it, instead of further undercutting our economic well-being.And earlier in 2020, Spotify along with several other streaming giants took to the DC circuit courts to appeal the 44% increase in mechanical songwriter royalty payments set in 2018 by the Copyright Royalty Board. Spotify along with other streaming giants have invested millions of dollars into this legal battle to deny songwriters their due. Spotify cannot legitimately claim to be helpful to artists if they continue to fight songwriters in court. Stop Fighting Artists Spotify positions itself as the ultimate tool for artists to connect with and acquire new fans - but those aspirations frequently come in conflict with their bottom line and their business model. They ask artists to generate more and more content, saying "You can't record music once every three to four years and think that's going to be enough." Their own director of economics, Will Page, has stated that switching the platform to a user-centric model would be too difficult to implement because of "significant financial costs to adopting and implementing user-centric distribution." Spotify should be fighting for the artists who built it, instead of further undercutting our economic well-being. And earlier in 2020, Spotify along with several other streaming giants took to the DC circuit courts to appeal the 44% increase in mechanical songwriter royalty payments set in 2018 by the Copyright Royalty Board. Spotify along with other streaming giants have invested millions of dollars into this legal battle to deny songwriters their due. Spotify cannot legitimately claim to be helpful to artists if they continue to fight songwriters in court. Press Paste Magazine Pitchfork Consequence of Sound Brooklyn Vegan Le Canal Auditif --------------------------------------------------------------------- Resources Payment Spotify Mission Statement - Spotify "The Definitive Guide to Spotify Royalties" - Jeff Price "Who Owns Spotify?" - Rolling Stone "Making Cents" - Pitchfork Transparency "This was Sony Music's contract with Spotify" - The Verge "Spotify Has a Patent for Personality Tracking Technology - and it's Pretty Creepy Stuff" - Music Business Weekly Liz Pelly's Writing - The Baffler Spotify Fighting Artists "Spotify CEO To Artists: "You Can't Record Music Once Every Three To Four Years And Think That's Going To Be Enough -Consequence of Sound "Threats, Bullying and Misinformation: Inside Spotify's Battle With Songwriters" - Rolling Stone "Songwriters Are Already Fighting For Better Pay. But in 2021, They Face an Even Bigger Battle" - Rolling Stone "Spotify vs. Songwriters: Publishers Remain Confident That Streaming Platforms Will Be Forced to Increase Royalties in the US." - Music Business Worldwide umaw.organize@gmail.com