What happened so far
Earlier in 2020, songwriters, composers and performers started sharing how little they got from streaming using the hashtag #BrokenRecord.
The Ivors Academy and Musicians’ Union started campaigning for a Government review - and over 17,000 of you backed the call.
Press picked it up, including the Guardian, Pitchfork, Wired, and BBC Radio 5 Live. They’re still going too - catch up with #BrokenRecord founder Tom Gray and MU Deputy General Secretary Naomi Pohl speaking to Ed Miliband and Goeff Lloyd on Reasons to be Cheerful.
More people started speaking out. Speaking to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Tasmin Little OBE explained how she gets 5 to 6 million streams over six months, with 755,000 monthly listeners, and gets paid just £12.34 for it.
Politicians were listening too – the Labour Party made user centric party policy, and the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select committee called for a Government review...
... before launching their own in Autumn this year.
As part of that, they invited creators and industry experts to give evidence in person – including Nile Rodgers, Tom Gray, Guy Garvey and Nadine Shah.
They explained how successful artists and creators are struggling to pay rent, and backed equitable remuneration.
And they made the case for more transparency, user centric, and increasing the value of the song.
Plus many more gave evidence using the Ivors Academy and Musicians' Union's guide, and emailed in support.
We campaigned for a Government review, but the battle to fix streaming is not over yet. Look out for more updates in 2021.