NYC Council Set to Vote on Living Wage for Musicians Act

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

Resolution 368 is sponsored by a coalition of council members including Shahana K. Hanif, Chi A. Osse, Carlina Rivera, Julie Menin, Tiffany Cabán, Justin Brannan, Rita Joseph Louis, Gale Brewer, Kevin Riley, and Amanda Farias. The resolution calls on Congress to pass and for the President to sign the Living Wage for Musicians Act introduced in the U.S. House in 2024.

The United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) group is the driving force behind the campaign for the act. It has organized events and petitions urging the NYC council to pass this resolution, highlighting the urgent need for fair compensation in the streaming era. The act has also received support from other labor and music advocacy organizations, which reflects their broad concern over the economic precarity introduced with the advent of AI.

Streaming now accounts for 84% of total recorded music revenue in the United States. Paid subscription services generated over $10 billion in revenue for 2022. Yet artists often receive as little as $0.0033 per stream, meaning an artist would need the equivalent of 800,000 monthly streams for a musician to earn the equivalent of a $15-per hour full-time job. With over 14,000 working musicians in NYC that face economic insecurity as AI becomes a larger 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,” said 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,” said UMAW organizer and musician Damon Krukowski.

The Living Wage for Musicians Act proposes a new royalty structure, setting a minimum payout of one cent per stream. It would tax non-subscription streaming revenue and add a fee to subscriptions, distributing the funds through a non-profit to artists based on their monthly streams. The act also includes a cap on monthly payouts per track to ensure more equitable distribution among a broad range of artists—from emerging talents to local superstars.