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["Wake Me Up!"] was the most streamed song in Spotify history and the 13th most played song on Pandora since its release in 2013, with more than 168 million streams in the US. And yet, that yielded only $12,359 in domestic royalties — which were then split among three songwriters and our publishers. In return for co-writing a major hit song, I've earned less than $4,000 domestically from the largest digital music service.

If that's what's now considered a streaming "success story," is it any wonder that so many songwriters are now struggling to make ends meet?

Our work clearly does have value, of course, or else it would not be in such high demand. So why aren’t songwriters compensated more fairly in the marketplace?

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/aloe-blacc-pay-songwriters

Thanks for putting up the column. Great argument.

Yet people (including musicians) flock to Spotify and Pandora and pay to get them ad-free. 1 million plays on Spotify gets $90 royalties, and how much income did those plays generate for Spotify's head honchos?
People complain about BMI, ASCAP and SECAC - but they only collect/pay for radio, tv and live plays of songs - internet streaming does not come under their domains.