The UK-based #BrokenRecord campaign has been agitating on the issue of musicians’ streaming royalties for several months. Now it has published the results of a survey of 2,069 British adults, weighted to be representative of the population, about the topic.
It found 77% saying that artists are not paid enough; 76% saying that songwriters are underpaid; 83% saying that most record labels are paid too much; and 68% saying streaming platforms are overpaid.
Here’s the rub: just over 53% of the respondents pay for a music streaming subscription. That means 24% who think artists aren’t paid enough, but aren’t paying for a subscription themselves to help to solve that problem.
Another question asked if people would be prepared to pay more for their subscription under the current distribution model, and found 69% saying no.
However – and this ties in to the campaign’s interest in user-centric distributions – when they were asked if they’d pay more if their subscription went ‘directly to songwriters and artists they listened to, around half of the naysayers (the 69% from the last question) changed their tune and said they’d pay more.
“Consumers want a fairer share of streaming income to go to artists, songwriters and musicians,” said #BrokenRecord founder Tom Gray. “The system is unethical and unsustainable and needs to be sorted out by the industry or, if necessary, via government intervention.”
For more on the #BrokenRecord campaign, watch the May episode of our Music Ally TV Show which featured Gray talking about the issues (below). The YouGov survey was supported by the Musicians’ Union and The Ivors Academy.
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