#umaw

Next year they plan to change their rules to instate a 1000 stream/song/year cutoff under which songs will not make money at all. Worse, if the song doesn't reach 1000 within a month they will not pay EVER for that month even if it makes it to 1000 the next day.

These may not seem like huge amounts per artist but it adds up to millions of dollars and sets the precedent of not paying artists for their work. They will not stop here without a fight.

Shameless hypocrisy from me:

So why did I link a Spotify playlist? Those are my tracks with under 1000 plays this year* 🤣 Maybe you'll find something you like and we can keep the fractional cents flowing 💖💸💰

I have 21 000 streams this year from thousands of awesome people like you - I am not far in this journey but am well into the top 20% on the platform, so you can imagine how many artists are going to get nothing at all.

What you can do

If you want to help artists buying on Bandcamp is the most direct option. For streaming I can vouch for Tidal being a platform with better payout rates, better sound quality, and a smoother interface - not perfect but a lot closer. If you're willing, there's a petition in the above link I think.

If you are a musician and want to stand up, join UMAW. They are a new international union, the first representing artists and music workers in the new digital era. They already have impressive wins including getting Ticket master venues to stop taking merch cuts and improving pay at SXSW, a top US festival. They have sliding scale dues including potential exemptions for artists who can't yet afford 3 dollars a month (a thousand streams in Spotify terms). And we get to be in the same union 😉💖

Going forward I don't know if I will remove my stuff or what. I don't want my music unaccessible to my fans and that is the largest platform by far. I would love to hear what you think. I just know that I am privileged to be able to afford to make music and don't want to see this becoming even more closed off to the vital voices that haven't got funds or support. Between AI and streaming, one wonders if musicians will even exist in the future - let's keep the future full of dancing and merriment instead of this technofeudal nightmare the Daniel Eks of the world want to embrace.

shared by the United Musicians and Allied Workers to twitter

I cannot stress this enough

FUCK

SPOTIFY