Songwriters Want Bigger Slice

The letter wanting more money from the likes of Spotify and YouTube, which was published by major Swedish daily Aftonbladet, was signed by 133 songwriters and producers, some of them working with hits acts such as Janet Jackson, Robyn, The Saturdays, and Britney Spears.

Spotify says it doesn’t understand why some acts don’t want to sign up to their service as it’s paid the music industry more than $1 billion since it launched in 2008, but the Swedish songwriters say that they’ve seen very little of it.

“It remains to be seen if the stakeholders in the Swedish recorded music industry can hammer out an agreement that satisfies all parties,” said Helienne Lindvall, a signatory of the letter and regular contributor to The Guardian.

Earlier this month, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) launched a campaign entitled The Day the Music Died to demand fair share for songwriters.