Following some discussion from musician Nils Lofgren on this report on the sobering royalty payout numbers of digital streaming services, Slipknot/Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor engaged in some interesting conversation on Twitter about being a musician in the modern age.
According to the report, dominant streaming services such as Spotify pay .00437 per stream, with 336,842 streams required per month to meet the US minimum monthly wage of $1,472. The report further states that services such as Apple Music and Google Play Music pay out better at .00735 and .00676 respectively.
Of course, with labels recouping on advances, etc. made to the artists and publishing deals, the musicians themselves are often the last in line to receive their cut, taking home fractions of the fractions of a penny.
Some of Taylor‘s more notable thoughts on the matter via Twitter can be found below:
No one points this out. And while Congress has passed legislation to right this wrong, almost all the streaming services are APPEALING, which means we STILL don’t get paid for our work. But please people, by all means- stream away… ?? https://t.co/QsaVVdrvUI
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
We HAVE to tour. It’s the only way we can make a living. Merch helps, but the merch companies make the lion’s share. Streaming is pricing artists- old AND new- out of careers. https://t.co/XMk3llFJGX
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
It’s not the streaming itself, kid. I don’y care HOW people get the music. I care how the COMPANIES who provide it compensate the fuckin’ people who made it in the first place. https://t.co/W5PdDRyi7G
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
But we’re constantly on the road, fella. I have kids. I have a life. When am I supposed to get time for THEM? https://t.co/xMOmSs8HAS
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
I buy albums, physically and on iTunes. I WILL say this: Apple Music is the ONLY streaming service that is NOT appealing the legislation. Thank you @AppleMusic
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
All due respect, this isn’t about contracts right now because they don’t reflect the service righteously. And even if the streaming service pays the label, WE still don’t get paid. This is about PUBLISHING. They’re offering OUR work and not paying for it.
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
Because as long as the RECORD LABELS get THEIR money, they don’t CARE if the ARTIST gets paid at ALL. Or who plays their music- unless it’s a critic on @youtube THEN THEY’RE UP IN ARMS ??
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
All due respect, I simply do not believe the ‘rock and metal isn’t popular’ idea. Our shows are sold out, our numbers are just as high as anyone else’s and we’ve been #1 every time. This isn’t about popularity, because it happens in EVERY GENRE.
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte also chimed in on the matter, with Taylor also responding:
EXACTLY. https://t.co/IHlAkjwK61
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
Taylor‘s discussion then continued:
Any service where you can buy the album, or songs at a time. Even buying a song singly makes us more than simply streaming it.
The irony here is, if the streaming services adhered to the payment scale that Radio has to abide by, we’d all be paid fairly.— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
Musicians are LITERALLY the last to be paid. https://t.co/uA3i9337cQ
— Panickin’ Skywalker (@CoreyTaylorRock) August 3, 2019
The legislation Taylor referred to regarding streaming is a 2018 ruling which saw the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board raise the music streaming royalty rates for songwriters and music publishers by 44% per cent to narrow the difference between them and record labels.
The new rates were officially published by the Copyright Royalty Board earlier this year and have since been entangled in an ongoing appeal by Spotify, Pandora, Amazon and Google.
