A ton of recording artists have shared their frustrations on the imminent arrival of Apple Music. Taking a slightly different approach with Billboard, The-Dream decides to dump the bucket on the exploitative nature of the music industry, stating all “artists are treated like slaves.”
“We have terrible contracts, we have streaming services that pay one-tenth of a cent per play, we have no laws to protect us.”
The singer/songwriter then criticizes the balance of power between songwriters and their respective record companies, stating that he doesn’t have the same freedom as Taylor Swift:
“If I took my records off of Spotify, it would affect the people who listen to my music for free and may not have the means otherwise. Taylor Swift fans probably have the means to go and buy a Taylor Swift record. […] If you got a hit and you’re white, there are no limits to what you can do. If you’re black and you have a hit today but can’t do it again tomorrow, then your ass is out of here…We can’t say no to radio, we can’t say no to Spotify, and we can’t have a concert because nobody will come. And the whole time, everybody is taking from our culture to enhance the pop side of things…There are urban artists and then there are pop artists, and urban artists get things taken from them. We create the swag, and everybody knows it.”
