Musicians call on Spotify to triple royalty rates amid coronavirus cancellations

An online petition has called on the streaming giant to offer support as the industry struggles to cope with the deadly pandemic

Musicians have pleaded with streaming giant Spotify to triple its royalty payment rates amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Because venues have been closed to prevent the spread of infection, and tours have been cancelled, many musicians have been left without a source of income.

An online petition created by musician Evan Greer called for Spotify to permanently triple its rates, and make a donation of $500,000 (roughly £432,000) to California-based charity Sweet Relief, which is providing financial aid to musicians and music industry workers in the wake of the pandemic.

Spotify reached out to The Guardian through a spokesperson, saying: “There’s no question this is a challenging time for our creator community and we are working to assist them through MusiCares’ Covid-19 relief fund to provide much needed assistance.”

For years, the music streaming platform has made headlines for the way it compensates artists for their music.

Read more

In 2018, Spotify agreed to an £84m settlement in a class action lawsuit over allegations that songwriters were not being sufficiently compensated for their work.

You can read a list of all the major music events that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic here.