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Snoop Dogg Not Happy With Streaming $$$
While there’s a lot of talk about how AI might impact music creators and their rights, there are still huge issues with streaming payouts. The formula for the way music creators get paid by streaming services like SPOTIFY and APPLE MUSIC doesn’t seem fair, especially when compared to how terrestrial radio compensates the same group of people.
Streaming Payouts
Most streaming services use a “pro-rata” model. This means they pool together all the revenue generated from subscriptions and ads. The total revenue is then divided by the total number of streams across the platform. Each artist’s share of this revenue is based on their percentage of the total streams.
The per-stream rate is incredibly low, often just a fraction of a cent. For example, SPOTIFY pays around $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. This means it takes thousands of streams to earn even a few dollars.
The money is then distributed among rights holders, including the record label, the songwriter, and the artist. However, artists typically end up with the smallest portion, especially if they don’t own the rights to their music.
Terrestrial Radio Payouts
Terrestrial radio operates differently. When a song is played on the radio, the station pays a license fee to Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. These organizations collect royalties and distribute them to songwriters and publishers.
Snoop Dogg Wants a Better System
Not long ago, SNOOP DOGG publicly criticized the streaming model, pointing out that music creators aren’t receiving a fair share for their work while streaming platforms keep raking in huge amounts in revenue.
Watch What Snoop Had To Say:
