Dee Snider recently joined a discussion on Twitter about the payouts of streaming services and whether it is fair pricing for musicians. Saxophonist Jaleel Shaw tweeted a streaming payouts chart and in the caption, he wrote:
“The actors & writers are protesting/striking now… Should we, the musicians be doing the same?”
According to the chart, YouTube’s payout per stream is $0.00069, so Snider’s reaction was:
“So if an artist is lucky enough to get one million plays on YouTube… they get $690.”
One follower argued that listeners’ attitudes opened the door to piracy, and streaming services are a product of that notion, while Dee said:
“This was triggered by greedy record labels. When the CD came out they raised the price to “allow for startup costs for a new technology”. People were cool…until they found out labels were producing them for a dollar & selling them for $20 (retail). Then all bets were off…”
This ignited a discussion among fans, where some of them agree with Dee and the low pricing, while others expressed their disagreements. A user said that piracy spreaded due to record labels’ mistreatment towards listeners:
“People turned to piracy because the industry basically shit on consumers by forcing you to buy an album with a single good track on it for $20, the rest of it being filler crap, and the whole thing only cost the studio $1.”
Snider strongly opposed the idea of albums consisting of ‘fillers’ and sided with the artists:
“However it happened, YOU justified taking the music and not paying for it. YOU decided you only like one song on a record we poured our hearts and souls into. The artist is the innocent party in the transaction.”
Another user pointed towards Twisted Sisters’ streamings and said:
“Some context would be helpful, clearly Amazon, Spotify & Apple are going to make up a vast majority of plays. What nobody knows is what’s the average plays/mo/yr for some of Twisted Sisters most popular songs?”
Dee took this opportunity to express his support towards other artists who can’t get a fair deal out of streaming services and record labels:
“We get shit from streaming. But I’m not complaining for me. I’ve done well. I’m speaking out for new bands. The ones that don’t make any money except from touring & merch, AND record companies now taking a piece of that as well! Artists need to be paid more for their streams!”
Snider has always been vocal while defending his beliefs or notions. In 1985, he had a serious fight against PMRC and censorship, so much so that he went to the courtroom and responded to every allegation made against Twisted Sisters. You can watch Dee’s Senate Hearing Speech here.
You can read the tweets about the discussion below.
So if an artist is lucky enough to get one million plays on YouTube…the get $690. https://t.co/s7jS2MRTp0
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) July 19, 2023
However it happened, YOU justified taking the music and not paying for it.
YOU decided you only like one song on a record we poured our hearts and souls into. The artists is the innocent party in the transaction. https://t.co/bceTcCVKiH
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) July 19, 2023