Musicians Need to Organize Collectively, as Workers
Like every other industry under capitalism, the music industry is currently organized to make a small handful of people very rich while the vast majority of working musicians benefit little from their recordings and performances. The only way to change that is through collective action.
Musicians protesting outside the NABShow New York Streaming Summit in New York City in October 2019. (American Federation of Musicians)
Launched in the spring as the coronavirus pandemic shut down music venues across the country, the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) seeks to, per their website, “organize music workers to fight for a more just music industry, and to join with other workers in the struggle for a better society.” In October, the union launched its Justice at Spotify campaign, seeking to increase the streaming giant’s abysmally low payout rate for musicians. The campaign currently has the support of more than 26,000 recording artists.
The union also stands for more equitable treatment from record labels and venues, and publicly supports Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, abolishing the police and ICE, and a host of other left-wing causes. Josephine Shetty, an organizer with UMAW and one of its cofounders, who also records under the name Kohinoorgasm, spoke with Alexander Billet about organizing music workers, UMAW’s aims, and its vision for a liberated music industry.
Alexander Billet
I want to start by addressing some of the myths and stereotypes about recording artists. There’s a persistent notion that artists and musicians are either incredibly successful or consummately lazy. Along those same lines, there’s the implication that those who are successful, who are living comfortably, are supposedly in that position because they’re making the “best music.” This ignores the sheer amount of money and marketing that goes into the recording industry behind the scenes. What’s your take on this? What has your own experience as a musician and performer shown you about them?
Josephine Shetty
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