NYC Council Set to Vote on Living Wage for Musicians Act

The New York City Council is about to vote tomorrow on Resolution 368, which expresses town’s assist for the federal Living Wage for Musicians Act.

Resolution 368 is sponsored by a coalition of council members together with Shahana Okay. Hanif, Chi A. Osse, Carlina Rivera, Julie Menin, Tiffany Cabán, Justin Brannan, Rita Joseph Louis, Gale Brewer, Kevin Riley, and Amanda Farias. The decision calls on Congress to cross and for the President to signal the Living Wage for Musicians Act launched within the U.S. House in 2024.

The United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) group is the driving pressure behind the marketing campaign for the act. It has organized occasions and petitions urging the NYC council to cross this decision, highlighting the pressing want for honest compensation within the streaming period. The act has additionally acquired assist from different labor and music advocacy organizations, which displays their broad concern over the financial precarity launched with the appearance of AI.

Streaming now accounts for 84% of complete recorded music income within the United States. Paid subscription providers generated over $10 billion in income for 2022. Yet artists typically obtain as little as $0.0033 per stream, that means an artist would wish the equal of 800,000 month-to-month streams for a musician to earn the equal of a $15-per hour full-time job. With over 14,000 working musicians in NYC that face financial insecurity as AI turns into a bigger a part of the streaming puzzle.

“I’m thrilled the New York City Council is set to pass my Resolution 368, in support of the Living Wage for Musicians Act. In the music capital of the world, artists deserve fair pay and dignity,” mentioned Council Member Shahana Hanif. “As streaming platforms pay artists less than a third of a penny per play, this will be a critical step toward making our city more affordable for working musicians to continue living and creating music here.”

“The New York City Council taking this action shows that the Living Wage for Musicians Act is an idea with popular support, and one that politicians can get behind. Music benefits everybody, but streaming is not benefiting musicians – the LWMA is a straightforward solution to that widely acknowledged problem,” mentioned UMAW organizer and musician Damon Krukowski.

The Living Wage for Musicians Act proposes a brand new royalty construction, setting a minimal payout of 1 cent per stream. It would tax non-subscription streaming income and add a payment to subscriptions, distributing the funds by a non-profit to artists based mostly on their month-to-month streams. The act additionally features a cap on month-to-month payouts per monitor to make sure extra equitable distribution amongst a broad vary of artists—from rising abilities to native superstars.