THE LIVING WAGE FOR MUSICIANS ACT is to be re-introduced to the House of Representatives. In a statement, United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) said,

‘On September 29, Representative Rashida Tlaib will reintroduce the Living Wage for Musicians Act — the bill to finally regulate streaming services like Spotify and ensure fair streaming payouts to artists. This legislation would create a new streaming royalty paid directly to artists, ensuring that musicians can build sustainable careers in the digital age. The new royalty would be an additional revenue stream on top of artists’ existing royalties.’ The statement continues, ‘ The Living Wage for Musicians Act is built to pay artists a minimum penny per stream, an amount calculated specifically to provide a working class artist a living wage from streaming.’

Streaming services have long been criticised for underpaying artists. In August of this year, music critic Anthony Fantano commented, ‘What can I say at this point that has not already been said [about Spotify]… the crappy payouts, the fact that they set the standards for crappy payouts… the CEO payouts… just everything. Spotify is awful.’

Artists who have publicly supported the bill include Guy Picciotto from Fugazi. ‘It is long past time for Congress to assist musicians and artists to receive a more equitable share of the income from streaming platforms that depend so hugely on their creativity,’ he stated on the UMAW website. ‘I encourage everyone to contact their legislators and ask them to support this crucial bill.’

To generate more support, the UMAW has a form field on their website through which people can write to their members of Congress requesting they co-sponsor the bill.

The bill was first introduced by Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman in March 2024 but failed to secure enough votes.

United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) was formed in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The union aims to improve the lives of music workers via safer and more sustainable working environments and a fairer redistribution of resources within the music industry.