A year without concerts

We discuss the ways in which the pandemic has affected the lives of musicians, and the efforts to get Spotify to pay musicians more for their streams.

Listen 49:29
(photo courtesy of Cephascrispus/Creative Commons)

(photo courtesy of Cephascrispus/Creative Commons)

It’s been a year without concerts, and many musicians are feeling the hurt. Today on the show, we’ll discuss how music makers are coping with the lack of touring and performing funds, what some have been doing in lieu of live performances, and how Spotify’s business model isn’t helping things. We begin with Philadelphia Musician’s Union President ELLEN TRAINER, who will tell us about the difficulty that freelance musicians have had in getting relief money from the local and federal government. Then we’ll hear from musicians SADIE DUPUIS of Speedy Ortiz and VICTORIA RUIZ of The Downtown Boys. They are founding members of The Union for Musicians and Allied Workers, the organization leading protests against Spotify demanding better compensation for the artists on the world’s most popular music streaming platform.

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