New US Bill Proposes a Minimum Streaming Payment of 1 Cent Per Stream

The Living Wage For Musicians Act has been introduced to congress by US Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman, which puts forward a minimum streaming payment for musicians that is higher than the current standard.

According to Consequence, Reps. Tlaib and Bowman teamed up with the United Musicians and Allied Workers and other artists to draft the bill that proposes a minimum payout of 1 cent per stream — up against Spotify‘s current rate of $0.003-$0.005 USD per stream. The Living Wage For Musicians Act also suggests a cap on tracks after they reach one million streams. “The royalty would be funded through platform subscription fees and a 10% levy on non-subscription revenue, and is designed to ensure that artists receive a minimum of one penny per stream, an amount calculated to provide a working class artist a living wage from streaming,” a press release read. “The royalty would be paid out proportionally from a central fund, with a cap placed on how much an individual track can earn, to ensure a more equitable distribution of payments.”

“Streaming has changed the music industry, but it’s leaving countless artists struggling to make ends meet… It’s only right that the people who create the music we love get their fair share, so that they can thrive, not just survive,” Rep. Tlaib added.

The bill is being introduced just a few months after Spotify announced that it will no longer be compensating artists for songs that have fewer than 1,000 streams — which generates about only 3 cents per month for the artist. The streaming service claims that “the policy will eliminate one strategy used to attempt to game the system or hide artificial streaming, as uploaders will no longer be able to generate pennies from an extremely high volume of tracks,” adding that the company aims to deter artificial streaming, better organize payouts to smaller artists and “rein in those attempting to game the system with noise.”