Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman have been championing the Living Wage for Musicians Act in the House of Representatives. House Bill 7763 would begin to address the financial devastation that performing artists in the music industry are suffering. It explicitly calls for raising streaming royalties to at least one cent per stream. The Act’s stated goals are giving performers and creators a more stable income, especially as streaming services continue to take over the music marketplace.
The introduction of the Living Wage for Musicians Act comes at a crucial time when many artists are advocating for fair compensation from streaming services. That legislation is now aimed for consideration in the 118th Congress. Like Tlaib and Bowman, we want to reduce the economic burdens that musicians deal with in today’s environment. They want to do this by establishing a minimum royalty rate.
The proposed changes aim to create a fairer marketplace for artists, ensuring that they receive a more equitable share of revenue generated through streaming. This approach emphasizes the need to protect all musicians, especially those who cannot survive without income generated directly through these third-party platforms.
Lauren, a reporter at TechCrunch covering media, streaming, apps, and platforms, highlighted the ongoing concerns regarding fair compensation in the music industry. She spoke to the struggles artists are experiencing in getting fair royalties from the top streaming platforms.
“display features such as user-created custom playlist covers, user comments on podcasts, and user-created playlist titles” – Spotify
Spotify’s pull quote below is a great example of this intent to drive more audience engagement through the platform. Importantly, it furthers the cause of just and equitable compensation of artists and their work. The Living Wage for Musicians Act would make an important first step in addressing these issues. Ultimately, it seeks to improve the balance of power for creators across the music landscape.
