Channels Television Updated March 2, 2021 (FILES) This file photograph taken on April 19, 2018, shows the logo of the online music streaming company Soundcloud, displayed on a tablet screen in Paris. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
SoundCloud announced Tuesday it will become the first streaming service to start directing subscribers’ fees only to the artists they listen to, a move welcomed by musicians campaigning for fairer pay. At the moment, streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Apple put royalty payments into one big pot and dish them out based on which artists have the most global plays. Many artists and unions say this system is grossly unfair, giving a huge slice of the pie to mega-stars like Drake and Ariana Grande, and leaving almost nothing for musicians further down the pecking order.