“We were just talking about what to do,” Krukowski says. For others, it was a way to channel restless energy or educate themselves on the business. For some, the communal video get-togethers offered a chance for commiseration or support. Spotify’s stock price is up more than 150% over the last year.ĭamon Krukowski, a writer, artist advocate and former drummer for Galaxie 500, said during a recent Zoom video call with Holter that the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers was born of necessity. As Billboard noted, that valuation is about twice that of Spotify’s largest supplier, Universal Music. In February, Spotify stock hit an all-time high when it reached $387 per share, which valued the company at more than $72 billion. recorded music income, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s year-end report.

In 2020, overall music revenue increased 9.2% over 2019 to $12.2 billion and streaming accounted for 83% of U.S. Spotify is owned, in part, by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music, whose continued growth is tied to the success of the streaming giant. Needless to say, a vocal number of independent artists didn’t appreciate career advice from an executive who accrued his nearly $5 billion in wealth by monetizing their art. The musicians’ protest followed Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek’s much-discussed 2020 comment that “some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.” “It’s accessible, but it’s private property,” Holter explained - a description that might also be applied to the platform itself. As she did so, a police officer interrupted to tell the group members that they needed to step away from the Spotify entrance. the weekend.”Īfter gathering near the entrance, Holter started reading their demands - among them, increasing payments to rights holders to a penny per stream, from the current average of between a third and a half a penny, and providing more transparency for musicians. the Weeknd” became “Ladies and gentlemen. the weekend, brought to you by Daniel Craig and a teen in O.C.īehind the meme: How “Ladies and gentlemen. Entertainment & Arts Ladies and gentlemen.

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