DOROTHY Says Streaming Services Need To Pay Artists 'A Lot More For The Songs'

In a new interview with Ned of the Rock 108 radio station, Dorothy Martin, the Hungarian-born frontwoman of her eponymous outfit DOROTHY, spoke about the importance of streaming in supporting music industry revenues. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think artists need to unionize and I think the streaming services need to pay us a lot more for the songs. It's great, because the streaming services, the pros of that are you have a much broader reach. You reach a lot of people. I mean, you can get a billion streams, right? So you're reaching people all over the world in every country. But we need to get paid more for it because now artists are sort of forced to tour. Not that we don't love to tour and see our fans, but I feel very strongly that we deserve to get paid for our art and it should be fair. And I think that the United States government needs to legislate a little bit on our behalf and get artists paid a fair amount for the streaming numbers. And then it's great. Then we can come on tour. You can buy physical merch, vinyl CDs, cassettes. We'll sign it for you. We love it. We'll kiss you on the forehead and sign your boobies. But touring is a grind, and while it's fun, it has its ups and downs. But also it's just fair at the end of the day. And I think artists should pull together and unionize and not be so competitive with one another, but have each other's backs. 'Cause when the artists start talking, all the business folks in the industry are like, 'Uh-oh. They banded together and they're rebelling.' [Laughs]"

For years, Spotify has been criticized for offering paltry payouts to musicians and songwriters, with some claiming that the service gives major-label artists an unfair advantage via playlist placement and other promotional avenues.

In recent years, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has been trying to defend Spotify's payouts, telling CBS News in early 2023: "We don't pay artists directly. [Artists] have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is we pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and don't know what individual deals these artists may have."

Three years ago, Spotify created a web site called Loud&Clear to clarify exactly who receives payments.

According to Forbes, "Spotify has been paying back nearly 70% of every dollar generated from music as royalties to rights holders who represent artists and songwriters. These organizations, which include independent distributors, publishers, performance rights organizations, record labels, and collecting societies, then pay the artists and songwriters based on their agreed terms."

Earlier today, Spotify reported an operating income of 266 million euros ($289 million) in the second quarter, compared with a loss of 247 million euros ($268 million) a year ago. Monthly active users grew 14% annually to 626 million.

Earlier this month, Dorothy released a new single called "Mud". The track was produced by Scott Stevens (HALESTORM, SHINEDOWN, NOTHING MORE).

The details of Dororthy's forthcoming fourth studio album will be announced in due course. Dorothy's discography thus far includes "Gifts From The Holy Ghost" (2022),which was inspired by a spiritual awakening, as well as "ROCKISDEAD" (2016),which inspired Roc Nation to sign the artist to the label, and "28 Days In The Valley" (2018). The Budapest, Hungary-born stunner has enjoyed over one billion global streams combined across her career and has participated in high-profile collaborations with everyone from STAIND to Slash of GUNS N' ROSES to Scott Stapp of CREED to ALICE COOPER guitarist Nita Strauss, earning and ultimately cementing her place among the hard rock elite.