The ban on live performances as part of the public isolation measures imposed to combat the Coronavirus have caused many British musicians to the brink of poverty, fueling a campaign calling for a greater share of the profits of broadcasting their songs on the Internet.
"I receive calls from a lot of young artists whose music has broadcast millions of times to about 200,000 listeners per month, but they don't get the minimum wages," said Tom Gray of the English Gomez band.
Gray set up a "Brocken Record" campaign to pressure the industry to do more for the musicians.
The songs of the Gomez team, which has a Platinum Sales Certificate, have been broadcast millions of times on Spotify, the leading online music platform, but that is due to Gray with an income of "just a few pennies."
The reason for this is that the money that customers pay for major online music platforms is in one place and then distributed to artists based on market shares, so if one of the listeners pays ten pounds ($ 12) a month and only listens to Gomez's songs, the money is It nevertheless reaches the world's leading artists and record companies.
Cybercasting companies say they are doing their best to assist artists during public isolation. Spotify pledged donations to musical charitable foundations to match community donations with a total value of $ 10 million, while Apple Music launched a $ 50 million fund for record companies and independent distributors.
Help Musicians UK has paid 8.5 million pounds to 17,500 musicians who have no money for their basic needs.
But many others suffer and are denied access to government support programs during public isolation, because their incomes are irregular. A survey of the Musicians Syndicate this month showed that 38% of them were not eligible for government support.