On the left, Casey Wasserman, CEO of Wasserman talent agency, who was recently damningly exposed in the Epstein files. Wasserman represents hundreds of musicians. On the right, genocidaire Netanyahu, the war criminal who has overseen the murder of 400,000 Palestinians.

Casey Wasserman, founder of Wasserman talent agency, is in the Epstein files. His involvement is extremely clear and damning. Wasserman represents hundreds of the most well-known names in music.

Bad Bunny, Kehlani, Billie Eilish, and more spoke out at the Grammys against ICE terror. Fuck ICE! Abolish ICE now! Images via chnge

This week, UMAW launched a massive coalition action with 11 other partner groups calling for the passage of the Living Wage for Musicians Act, the bill to finally make streaming services pay artists fairly. Join us and take action at the link below.

UMAW stands with Minneapolis students in calling for a national day of action tomorrow, January 30th. Text “organize” to 88504 for your walkout toolkit. Find what’s happening in your area! 💪

Marcos Flores, bassist for Denver-based shoegaze band Summer of Peril, has been in ICE custody for over a month. Marcos must be released IMMEDIATELY and ICE must be abolished. Via Denver Westword

Shreea Kaul is correct - streaming services like Spotify are exploiting human artists. AI music is just slop. We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act NOW and real protections against AI.

ABOLISH ICE NOW!

We agree, @reprashida.govpeeps.us — ABOLISH ICE NOW

We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act to get artists paid fairly for streaming. More and more often, artists rely solely on touring for income since streaming pays poverty wages. But as the costs of touring continue to rise, the burden falls on musicians to make it work.

Thank you @reptroycarter.bsky.social for standing with artists! 💪

This is stolen art. AI slop is for losers. Support human artists making real human art, not AI imitations. The Living Wage for Musicians Act would ONLY pay human artists. AI tracks would not be eligible for the new royalty.

In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties. The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized. Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.

Every year, Luminate releases Spotify data on streaming numbers, payouts, uploads, etc. The data for 2025, released today, shows that a whopping 88% of tracks on Spotify have been demonetized.

Bandcamp says AI music is not permitted on the platform. Via @brooklynvegan.bsky.social

Spotify MUST clarify its policies to ensure the company will never work with ICE or the Israel Prison Service. Though Spotify has done it quietly, it is a win that we all pressured them not to renew ads with ICE. But it’s not enough. Via @pastemagazine.bsky.social

Make no mistake: this is because artists, fans, and music workers spoke out against Spotify’s ICE recruitment ads. When we organize together, we win 💪 Fuck ICE forever

Thank you @repsummerlee.bsky.social for standing with artists and co-sponsoring the LWMA!

Build power. Join UMAW. 💪

According to @lucasfebraro.bsky.social, Spotify is running recruitment ads in Israel for armed units in the Israel Prison Service, the system that runs prisons where, according to the UN, Israel enforces a state policy of organized torture.

People don’t become musicians in hopes of automating all the creative parts of the process. We take joy in writing, in building real scenes with real people — in the magic, human, intangible parts of music. No one wants empty AI music. No one wants endless, meaningless slop.

Spotify doesn’t care about the negative impact it has on the music industry.

Statement from UMAW, A4P, and PACBI:

Streaming services MUST be regulated. We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act NOW!

AI music is exploitation. Suno and other AI platforms encourage users to rip off real musicians in increasingly lazy ways. It’s not about creating music, it’s about exploiting musicians. This post could be rage bait, but the AI companies WANT their users to think this way.

Detroit City Council UNANIMOUSLY PASSES the resolution in support of the Living Wage for Musicians Act! 💪❤️

All AI music does is devalue the work done by human artists. It’s not accessibility, it’s exploitation. We need real protections for artists against AI! BTW — even if you had access to this AI startup as a child, you still wouldn’t know how to make music.

Musicians on the red carpet at the ARIA awards share their day jobs via @buzzfeed.com . Musicians, even those being recognized at major awards shows, are severely underpaid. We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act to get ALL artists paid FAIRLY for our work!

The only people who benefit here are the executives of the major labels and AI startups. We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act, which would pay a new streaming royalty ONLY to human musicians, not to corporations making AI slop.

Streaming services think they can act with impunity as they exploit and harm the artists that make their services possible. We need the Living Wage for Musicians Act NOW!

Poverty-wage payouts from streaming services, rising costs, lack of affordable housing, predatory label deals, the introduction of AI, and a stagnant minimum wage all helped flatten the music industry. Meme by @/phishonphilm on IG

UMAW applauds NYC Comptroller Brad Lander for sending a letter to Spotify condemning the company for its ICE recruitment ads. Lander says that Spotify's relationship with ICE "…threatens the $482 million in shares held by the NYC pension funds.”

While the US cuts essential benefits and arts & culture get decimated, the Irish government built a permanent UBI program for musicians. A better and more sustainable music industry is possible! US lawmakers must give more public funding for the arts and protect artists and workers.

There’s a new lawsuit against Spotify alleging pay-to-play promotion with their Discovery Mode tool. We need transparency from streaming services and an end to payola - we need the Living Wage for Musicians Act!

Socialism wins! Congrats Mayor @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social 💪 We agree that art is for all, not just the wealthy. We need to take the power back from the big corporations and into the hands of artists! photo via @thefader.bsky.social

Psych-rock band Doom Gong has accused NYC venue Cutting Room of intimidation and harassment. Venues and artists are a team for the evening, and should work together to put on a show that’s respectful, fun, and safe. Inappropriate venue experiences like this endanger musicians.

PROs will accept registrations of partially AI-generated music. We need protections for human artists - we need the LWMA! Big corporations are exploiting musicians at every turn. The Living Wage for Musicians Act specifies that ONLY human artists would receive the new royalty.

Happy Halloween 🎃

Support DC music workers unionizing at 9:30 Club, Atlantis, and The Anthem! Musicians, sign the solidarity letter here: unitehere.jotform.com/252604810555...

Spotify and the major labels have teamed up to make what they call “artist-first” generative AI products. Nothing Spotify does is artist-first.

ICE recruitment ads have been all over streaming services. Artists do not want the places where people find and listen to our work to promote ICE, a racist, corrupt group who kidnap and disappear innocent people. Why the fuck is Spotify running ICE ads?

Artists are clear on what we want: fair pay from streaming, no investment in war technology, protections against AI, an end to pro-rata deals, and transparency for artists across all aspects of streaming. Daniel Ek stepping down fulfills zero of those demands.

UMAW’s own @joeyquits.bsky.social has a new piece in @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social about the grassroots Maine Music Alliance campaign to stop Live Nation in Portland, ME 💪

We have many great images from the @umaw.bsky.social event in DC on Monday, but this has got to be my favorite - Alexia Roditis of Destroy Boys with Rep Rashida Tlaib (and an amused Yasmin Williams looking on)