It’s a complicated situation, but here in the UK it would seem we’re making some headway to ensure artists are paid properly from streaming:
MPs call for complete reset of music streaming to ensure fair pay for artists MPs call for complete reset of music streaming to ensure fair pay for artists - BBC News
Don’t you think that artists can handle it - are they not wise, tough people (otherwise they wouldn’t be contemporary “artists”?) 
We better wonder, if WE are properly rewarded - to buy they arts…
For once, an article gets it right. It’s not streaming that is the problem. It’s the record labels taking all the profits and giving the artists next to nothing.
Which has been the case since the beginning: the man in the Cadillac. He’s selling exposure I suppose, but today perhaps the internet can take care of that?
I know a lot of us on these forums buy much of our Music using Bandcamp and until things change with the distribution of the money (which let’s be honest is going to take forever) this is probably the best way to support artists and get money directly to them.
Probably 70%-80% of my music purchases go through Bandcamp and I almost never buy from the biggest online music stores anymore.
Not sure how contracts can be voided in this area, which these bands have signed up too, but let’s hope more and more band’s go the direct selling route and potentially make a lot more money doing it.
I really think that as consumers, we need to get behind this.
Artists really do deserve a fair deal, especially for all the joy they give us 
By all means, let’s get the government into yet another part of our lives…
I wonder what would happen if this blue-ribbon committee determined that artists were actually being paid too much?
Copyright is a government-imposed monopoly, so the government was in that part of our lives well before there were music labels or streaming.
This is not just about greedy labels. Streaming platforms should pay too. Their business model relies exclusively on maximisation of stock value - which explains why Spotify owner Daniel Ek can purchase Arsenal football club at 2.5 billion € - while Spotify does not make profits on most markets. Artists create the value, everyone else makes the money: time for a change!
You want government setting wage rates??
Nope. But I want to see fair pay for artists on streaming services,
Are you suggesting that the streaming services are illegally withholding monies, or are engaged in some sort of deception or embezzlement?
Or are you merely suggesting that the “piece rate” paid to artists is low by some objective standard?
If the latter, what is the objective standard, i.e. what is “fair”?
I’m stating that the current model of remuneration for artists providing their art on streaming services isn’t fit for purpose.
The whole system needs reform, to ensure artists are remunerated fairly.
Maybe enough so that Mercury nominated artists, with over 100,000 Spotify listeners, don’t have to move back in with their parents.
Well I wish them well, but given the arguments put forth thus far, I’m not optimistic.
@Martin_Kelly ,
I agree, streaming services don’t pay artists fairly. Especially, the artists who aren’t super popular.
B
You mean Copyright is legal protection for the owner of the copyrighted material?
$769 million is all that has gone through Bandcamp in the time it has been in existence. That’s nothing. Bandcamp has few artists and does not solve the problem.
I mean that, at least in the US, (C) is a constitutionally imposed monopoly that has been extended and extended by Federal law from its original 14 year length to favor certain (C) holders (especially those of famous animal characters). It’s rather silly to complain about (proposed) laws to improve artist compensation as “government intrusion” when the whole (C) construct is a government creation.