COMBO member Rob Roper called our attention to this protest: Spotify is the most dominant platform on the music streaming market. The company behind the streaming platform continues to accrue value, yet music workers everywhere see little more than pennies in compensation for the work they make.
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 next step in the campaign is to bring the fight directly to Spotify. On March 15th we are organizing an in person (socially distanced) action in front of Spotify offices around the world where we will deliver our demands to their front door!
Who We Are
The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has mobilized thousands of music workers to take part in our first actions around the COVID crisis, and we will continue to organize around issues such as demanding fairer deals from streaming services, ensuring musicians receive the royalties they are owed, establishing more just relationships with labels, and creating safer guidelines for venues.
We believe that the only way to transform music is to collectively take resources and power from the few wealthy companies that dictate our industry. We invite all music workers, including musicians, DJs, producers, road crew, and others, to join us. We also aim to use our strength as music workers to join in the broader struggles of our fellow workers across the globe. We stand for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, abolishing ICE, destroying borders, the freeing of incarcerated people, and more. Music workers are workers, and it is time we get organized and join the fight.
In solidarity and see you there,
Union of Musicians and Allied Workers
umaw.organize@gmail.com
https://www.unionofmusicians.org/justice-at-spotify