UMAW Launches Campaign to Pressure Spotify into Fairer Payments & Practices
The U . S . -based Union of Musicians and Allied Workers ( UMAW ) has launched an international campaign called Justice at Spotify in an attempt to put public pressure on the music streaming giant .
“ 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 ,” the public statement and petition says .
The UMAW is calling on Spotify to adopt a user-centric payment model and increase the royalty rate to one cent per stream . That would be roughly triple the current average per stream rate that Spotify pays out to music right holders . Currently , Spotify does not pay according to set per stream rate , but rather operates on a pro rata model based on revenue percentages agreed to in contracts with music rights holders , primarily labels and publishers .
The UMAW ’ s other demands are : make all closed-door contracts public ; reveal existing “ payola ,” then end it altogether ; credit all labour in recordings ; and end legal battles with songwriters and other rights holders .
As part of its campaign , the UMAW launched an interactive tool called Spotify Unwrapped , which mimics the style of Spotify ’ s popular year-end Wrapped campaign and tells Spotify Premium users how much of their annual subscription money went to artists .
For a deeper conversation with two of the UMAW ’ s Justice at Spotify campaign organizers , listen to the Jan . 20 , 2021 episode of the Canadian Musician Podcast .
For more information , go to www . unionofmusicians . org / justice-at-spotify .
PHOTO : DONALD TRUNG QUOC DON / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
SOCAN Sells MediaNet
Canadian performing rights organization SOCAN has sold MediaNet , its content fulfillment and rights administration business , to U . S . -based company Audible Magic . Audible Magic is a provider of identification and compliance solutions to social networks hosting user-generated content . The terms of the agreement were not disclosed .
MediaNet provides white label digital music solutions for internet radio , subscription music services , on-demand streaming , and support for fitness and gaming applications . With this acquisition , Audible Magic says it can now provide digital platforms a comprehensive range of services to enable and manage the use of music . Also , thanks to a new strategic partnership , SOCAN will use Audible Magic technology and services to help improve operational accuracy and reporting to publishers and songwriters . For more information , contact SOCAN : 866-307-6226 , www . socan . com .
Ð CANADIAN MUSICIAN 15