Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s $25 million Spotify deal is sparking envy amongst musicians as they’re fuming … calling for a reform on how they earn when their songs stream on the platform.
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Famous musicians who’re complaining include Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Robert Plant, Chris Martin, and Stevie Nicks. This week, they’ve called on the UK government to reform the way artists are paid when their songs stream online as many are paid less than a penny per stream.
Many of them were angry when Spotify chief Horacio Gutierrez told Parliament that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s virtue-signaling podcast deal enabled a “virtuous cycle” that helped most struggling musicians as it brought a lot of people to the platform.
But struggling musicians beg to differ.
Speaking to the Star, singer-songwriter Callum Gardner said, “I’ve been writing songs since I was 12 years old. I don’t get paid from Spotify, it’s never broken even from the money I used to put songs on Spotify. It’s hard, I don’t know what we are supposed to do because they have all the power and somehow all of the artists have all agreed.”
Another musician, Harrison Rhys described the Spotify deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as an “unethical kick in the teeth.”
He said, “I believe what Spotify have done is unethical, we are only being paid £0.0038 per stream but they are able to pay out what is probably a multi-million dollar fee to Harry and Meghan.
“In reality who wouldn’t want to accept that sort of money to have their podcast broadcast and it is likely to be a positive thing for their listeners as The Sussexes definitely are doing a lot of good with their projects around the world.
“But this last year has been the most difficult one for musicians where many have had the majority of their income lost so I feel this is a kick in the teeth.”
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Naomi Pohl, a Musician said, “Most streaming revenue benefits large corporations like the major labels at the expense of artists making a decent living. The time has come for change and we are hopeful the UK government are listening and that we fix streaming and get a better deal for all music makers.”
