The Union Of Musicians And Allied Workers Seeks Justice At Spotify
And why Spotify’s stranglehold on music is worse than Clear Channel or the RIAA
On Monday, March 15, the Union Of Musicians And Allied Workers held demonstrations at Spotify offices in more than 30 cities around the world, including nearly a dozen US locations. A press release from UMAW details their grievances and demands:
“The action is an escalation of UMAW’s Justice at Spotify campaign, first launched in October, 2020. Now signed by more than 27,000 music workers, the campaign calls for at least one cent per stream, the adoption of a user centric streaming model, the crediting of all labor on recordings, the end of payola, the end of Spotify’s anti-artist legal battles, and increased transparency over the company’s payments, algorithms, and data-collection systems. Spotify currently pays some $0.0038 per stream — among the lowest rates of any streaming company — operates entirely behind closed doors, and has sued songwriters to lower royalty rates.
As Spotify has refused to respond to Justice at Spotify, protestors are delivering the campaign’s demands directly to the company. The protests will be the first time music workers have taken collective in-person action against a tech company, and the first time music workers have…
