When even Jimmy Page complained about the amounts paid for streaming to musicians

The values ​​distributed by music streaming platforms to the artists themselves has been a subject of discussion for years, since tools such as Spotify, Apple Music It is deezer, among others, became popular. Payments are considered low by those who create art, even the most popular and even immortalized in history.

It is the case of jimmy page. the guitarist Led Zeppelin released, at the end of 2020, a brief letter on social media to ask streaming services to improve the amounts paid to musicians. At the time, the topic was debated in the United Kingdom through hearings and consultations promoted by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

Initially, in his text, Page stated:

“I totally appreciate the debate around the streaming royalties that should be rightfully paid to all the musicians and songwriters who made the music. The sooner streaming companies can make fair payments to all musicians whose music is played or viewed on the internet, and pay fair royalties to those who give us great pleasure from those who are exploiting them, the better.”

The post got more than 15,000 likes on Instagram and received more than 400 comments, which were generally supportive of Jimmy’s position. The fact that the leader of Led Zeppelin spoke was considered very important, since this discussion is not always headed by names already established in the market.

Check out the original post below.

The topic was debated in the United Kingdom after the Ivors Academy of Music Creators, an institution of songwriters, ask the UK government to impose stricter rules on how record labels work their artists on streaming platforms. A change in copyright laws was requested, in favor of musicians and composers, among other topics.

Among the musicians who took part in an audience with British MPs was producer Nile Rodgersleader of chic and performer/composer of several hits. Rodgers pointed out that artists don’t even know how much a stream is worth and that the lack of transparency on digital platforms does not allow for an audit.

According to the agency Reuters, parliamentarians discovered, amid the investigations, that streaming platforms yield more than 1 billion pounds in the United Kingdom alone. However, only 13% of this income reaches musicians.

The values

Also in 2020, a report released by the website Business Insider pointed out that artists were only paid $0.0033 for every play of their music on Spotify. It’s less than half a cent on the dollar. Thus, you need 300 plays/streams to receive a dollar for your work.

To the USA Todaya 22-year-old singer named Mackenzie Miller said her single “Peach Lemonade” received nearly 14,000 streams within the first few weeks of its release. However, his pay was barely $5. That’s because it doesn’t mean you’ll get paid $0.0033 per song play (this is an average amount) and because rights holders and distributors get paid too.

Spotify CEO’s suggestion

Still in 2020, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, generated controversy by offering what it considers to be the solution to the problem. The professional highlighted that musicians need to “record more”, since they are complaining without offering much in return.

In an interview with MusicAllyEk stated that, in fact, there are no complaints that demonstrate the musicians’ real dissatisfaction with the remuneration amounts.

“Privately, they praise Spotify. However, they are not encouraged to do this in public. There are more and more artists who are able to live off of streaming income alone.”

Then came the statement that musicians really need to work harder. A surprising speech, considering the amount of complaints about the values.

“Some artists earned more in the past and nowadays they may not earn as much, because nowadays it is not possible for someone to record music every 3 or 4 years and think that this will be enough. The artists who are making their mark these days know that it is necessary to engage with fans on an ongoing basis. When releasing an album, you need to have a story about it and continue to communicate with fans. Those who are not doing well on streaming platforms are, for the most part, those who want to release music the way it was before.”