The music industry has been rallying the streaming services for fairer compensation for streams ever since Spotify upended the industry.
Last month, Spotify attempted to offer up some transparency by launching its Loud and Clear website, which attempted to show much their payments work, but was mostly a guarded defence, pushing blame for underpayment onto the rights -holders. (Spotify generally pays between USD$.003 and $.005 per stream.)
Apple Music has followed suit, telling its artists it pays “a penny per stream”, which is roughly two to three times what Spotify pays, according to a letter addressed to artists and records labels, and viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Of course, this is still a paltry amount, especially considering each penny earned by a stream goes through a record label, rights-holders, management, and songwriters, before the artist sees any cut of this penny.
“As the discussion about streaming royalties continues, we believe it is important to share our values,” the letter reads.
“We believe in paying every creator the same rate, that a play has a value, and that creators should never have to pay for featuring” music in prime display space on its service.”
