To: CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate

Urge CNN, MSNBC, NPR to do a story on shrinking songwriter pay in the music industry

Due to the increased popularity of online streaming, satellite radio, and internet music sites, the percentage being paid for radio airplay to songwriters of musical content is shrinking drastically.

Why is this important?

The way streaming services pay royalties represents a major shift in the economic gears that have been underlying the industry for a decade. On a 99-cent download, a typical artist might earn 7 to 10 cents after deductions for the retailer, the record company and the songwriter. One industry joke calls the flow of these royalties a “river of nickels.” In the new economics of streaming music, however, the river of nickels looks more like a torrent of micropennies. Spotify, Pandora and others like them pay fractions of a cent to record companies and publishers each time a song is played, some portion of which goes to performers and songwriters as royalties. Unlike the royalties from a sale, these payments accrue every time a listener clicks on a song, year after year.

The question dogging the music industry is whether these micropayments can add up to anything substantial. Complicating the issue, each type of service pays different rates. Pandora’s are set by law. Spotify generally pays 0.5 to 0.7 cents per stream for its paid tier, and as much as 90 percent less for its free tier.

At this very moment, lobbyists for these streaming services are trying to set the amount paid per play to even lower amounts. This unjust and self-serving move is forcing songwriters of even the most popular and highly spun songs to see dismal amounts of return for their hard work and investment into their craft. Although there are many songwriters and music artists expressing their views on various online news outlets and Facebook, not enough attention is being brought to this issue on the national news stage. Congress is currently reviewing this matter, but with the financing power and lobbying of these streaming services being heavily implemented, the real losers of this battle are the artist, songwriters and music fans. Songwriters have helped create the most memorable music for decades and now people in this profession are seeking employment elsewhere or seek multiple jobs to sustain themselves and their families. Please sign and share this petition if you love music and want to see your artist and songwriters be paid fairly for their contribution to society. We hope that with enough attention, this issue could be brought to light on a national level.