The Reintroduction of the Living Wage for Musicians Act
Join UMAW in Washington DC on September 29 2025
Last March 2024 - a lifetime ago in Washington DC - the Living Wage for Musicians Act (LWMA) was introduced to Congress by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, with cosponsors Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Delia Ramirez, and Rep. Benny Thompson.
This September 29 2025, Rep. Tlaib will reintroduce the Living Wage for Musicians Act to the current Congress. Write your congress people now urging them to cosponsor the bill. And come join me and other musicians and music workers from UMAW in Washington DC that day to make some noise.
The New York City Council has already sent their letter supporting the LWMA! Other cities are working on similar endorsements.
The Living Wage for Musicians Act will establish, for the first time, direct payments from streaming platforms to recording musicians for use of our work. It is based on acts of Congress passed previously for direct payments from platforms to recording musicians for satellite radio, and “non-interactive” streaming services like Pandora. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and other streaming platforms are exempt from these direct payments because they claim they are a new technology not covered by previous laws. We need a new law for this new technology.
Read more about the LWMA on the UMAW website. And send your representatives a letter! Your voice matters. And if it’s being streamed, it should be earning you a direct payment.
This is critical work. Thank you for fighting.
Thank you! Also -- I imagine you have either seen this or already know about it or the book it's covering, but: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/28/band-people-franz-nicolay-book-review -- "The Decline of the Working Musician -- You used to be able to make a living playing in a band. A new book, 'Band People,' charts how that changed."