Today is May Day, the original date for Labor Day, or a pagan date to drive away evil spirits. Actually — why not both? For today’s International Workers’ Day, United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) is sharing some optimism, as it takes on justice for musicians in the era of streaming and AI.
Advocacy group UMAW has been on this for a while — see this 2024 story from Marie Claire covering the group’s inception and the battle for better streaming wages that the group took to Capitol Hill:
Meet the Indie Artists Fighting for Fair Wages
Today seems a good day to check in on their progress. They took today’s international holiday to tout some of that work; I’ll link to more on the background of each of these bullets. From their social media today:
- UMAW and our main sponsor Rep. Rashida Tlaib reintroduced the Living Wage for Musicians Act into Congress, which would be the largest material gain for musicians since the beginning of the streaming era if passed.
- Austin for Palestine and UMAW forced South by Southwest to divest from weapons manufacturers and the US Military in 2024.
- Live Nation-Ticketmaster ruled an illegal monopoly.
- New ME Live Nation venue build blocked by Maine Music Alliance this week.
Rep. Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American Member of Congress, reintroduced the previous legislation in this session of Congress, giving elected representatives a fresh shot at getting onboard. From Detroit, here’s some coverage of what that means:
Tlaib’s bill aims to make pay more equitable for independent artists [BridgeDetroit]
I wrote about that renewed effort last summer. That reintroduced bill is H.R. 5664. As in its previous incarnation, it’s been referred to the judiciary committee and languished there — but that’s actually why this is relevant. If Rep. Tlaib’s Democratic Party can flip the House, particularly with progressive wins, then you could see the legislation move forward. (Check the current cosponsors for the people to thank.)
South by Southwest is worth mentioning as a reminder that artist boycotts can pressure cultural leadership into changing course — it worked. And that’s a lesson for pressure elsewhere. (Protests for fair pay and saying no to military sponsors continued this year.)
But that’s old news. The news this month is the last two points. In April, a jury in New York ruled that Live Nation and Ticketmaster represent an illegal ticketing monopoly. And since some of the results of that ruling will take time, the even more immediate news is that Maine organizers just this week won against a Live Nation music venue.
I don’t want to be overly USA-centric here. But the thread through each of these cases is that it involves artists and independent arts organizations mobilizing — not just writing curatorial statements or a little political blurb on their album, but actually doing grassroots work and achieving material goals. And they’re doing that through collective action.
That to me has a lot more value than theoretical statements from festivals and whatnot. In the end, it’s not the collective value provided by those institutions — it’s the collective action of individuals. You know…
And with AI, streaming, venture capital, and the rest all looming, it’s worth reminding yourself just who built the music business.
“Now we stand outcast and starving ‘mid the wonders we have made.”
That hits home. Time to organize.
More: