The Challenges of the Songwriting Middle Class
Forward
I would like to sincerely thank Professors George Howard, Kat Reinhert, and Mark Simos for our informative conversations and expertise. I spoke about my article and research process with each of them, but each of our conversations ended up going in directions pertaining to both their experiences in their fields and as Berklee Professors. Professor Howard and I spoke about the future of artists and the technological opportunities to support them, Kat Reinhart and I talked about the importance of prioritizing arts both in cultural and education sectors, and Professor Mark Simos and I discussed songwriters’ concerns surrounding streaming, artificial intelligence, and the problems that many songwriters feel they are facing.
The topic of the disappearance of the songwriting middle class was brought to my attention while scrolling on TikTok. I came across two videos of Kristin Robinson in September, which resulted in my research this past year to explore and delve further into the topic. Thank you to Kristin for spearheading this important conversation!
Introduction
As the music industry evolves with technology and changing trends, the ways creatives are compensated and supported change with it. 73% of people report that they listen to music through licensed audio streaming services[1], and nearly one trillion songs are streamed every year in the US alone.[2] However, not only does the shifting streaming royalty system fluctuate depending on deals with rights holders, but the very function of streaming undercuts different creative roles in addition to the artist, particularly that of the songwriter. Songwriters, unlike artists, do not make additional money from master/sound recordings, touring revenue, merchandise, or other streams of income.[3] The current streaming model in the digital age rewards streams over physical mechanical royalties, while album rollouts prioritize singles over a single release of a bundled project, are becoming more common. In addition, stagnant definitions of what it means to be “a writer” are being challenged by the blurring lines between roles of songwriter, producer, and artist as writing rooms change and the songwriting process evolves in the digital age. In the U.S., all of these issues exist within a country that is defunding the creative arts in both educational and governmental sectors. Because of these issues, the modern middle-class songwriter resides in a system that seems to undercut their compensation when compared to previous decades.[4]
Background Information on Streaming
How does streaming work? Where does the money go?
Every time an artist’s song is streamed on Spotify, they are paid roughly between $0.003-0.005.[5] When a song is streamed, it is split into two different types of royalties: one for the sound recording/master and one for the musical work itself. The sound recording’s royalties are typically paid mostly to the label, while smaller portions go to the artist.[6] The distribution of how much the label and artist each get depends on the specific contract.
Digital Service Providers (DSPs)
Streaming services, also known as Digital Service Providers (DSPs), receive most of their revenue from paid subscriptions and advertising. Instead of paying out a fixed rate per stream, they pool their revenue and divide it based on how a track is streamed. DSPs separate their royalty payments, with roughly 80% distributed to the sound recording (payment towards label/independent artist) and 20% distributed towards the musical work royalty. Half of the musical work royalty is collected by the Publisher and paid to the songwriter, and the other half is collected by a Public Performance Organization (PRO), which distributes it evenly between the publisher and songwriter.[7] Most labels negotiate their distribution deals with DSPs differently, resulting in different royalty rates per stream depending on the label a song is released under.[8] In addition, DSPs often offer free-tier, ad-supported streams that generate royalties worth less than subscription-based streams, resulting in unevenly weighted streams–differing royalty payments dependent on the “type” of stream.[9] Along with issues on the way streams are weighted, the specifics behind royalty calculations are hard to understand due to “an opaque process and non-disclosure agreements” between labels and DSPS.[10]
The Musical Work/Composition and Songwriters
A song’s musical work or composition royalties are paid to its songwriters and publishers, who, as mentioned previously, typically receive 20% of a song’s total streaming royalties combined.[11]10% of that share goes towards mechanical royalties, which “represent a musical work embedded in a copy of a recording” that the publisher collects and pays to the songwriter.[12] The other 10% goes towards performance royalties – royalties generated every time the song is played in public, whether that be radio play, in a retail store, or a live performance – that performance rights organizations (PROs) like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC collect for songwriters and publishers. The PROs will also typically take an administrative fee out of their royalty payouts before dividing the performance royalties between the publisher and songwriter.[13] Ultimately, the typical earnings for songwriters and publishers are each roughly 9.4% of the total musical work composition.[14]
The Shift from Physical to Digital
With less physical music being sold annually, songwriters who receive the crucial mechanical royalty are not compensated as much within the streaming model. In 1999, $23.4 billion was generated from CD sales, accounting for 87.9% of the total $26.7 billion recorded music revenue made that year. By contrast, as of 2023, the CD format generated $537.1 million, accounting for 3.1% of the total $17.1 billion recorded music revenue.[15] This supports the idea that while recorded music is now dominated by streaming, it is not bringing in as much revenue as the recorded music industry, which was far more dependent on physical revenue.
While the standard mechanical royalty rate is 12.4 cents per track,[16] this only applies to physical formats and digital downloads.[17] According to Royalty Exchange, the average mechanical payment for streaming is significantly lower; as of 2021, it was about $0.06 per 100 streams ($0.0006).[18] Under this rough model, the sound recording receives $0.0038 per stream, and the composition share receives $0.0012.[19]
The Middle-Class Musician/Songwriter and Mechanical Royalties
Dan Runcie of The Trapital – which offers analysis and strategic breakdowns of various aspects of the music industry – defines an American middle-class musician as “an artist who reliably takes home $50,000-150,000 per year.”[20] He argues that “in the CD era, a solo artist was “middle-class” if they sold 20,000 copies of a $20 album annually.” He uses the example that if an artist made $4 for every copy sold, they would generate $80,000, ultimately making the majority of the income from album sales.[21] He points out that the total $80,000 can’t be directly compared to Spotify streams because streams are only considered part of the total revenue an artist receives. He claims that “streaming is a game of scale, access, and recurring revenue.” Scale serves major artists well but means that smaller artists – and their songwriters – ultimately “struggle to earn enough.” He also points out that “payouts don’t happen unless fans consume your music, and you can only stream one song at a time. And while recurring revenue is significant for investors and shareholders, it can limit consumer transactions that benefit middle-class musicians.” He makes the point that while middle-class musicians “still need streaming, they also need what streaming can’t offer—niche, ownership, and product sales,” [22] all things accessible in the physical model.
Berklee Professor George Howard thinks the Middle-Class musician is a bit of a myth because it’s always been challenging for songwriters and artists to make a living. While things are measurably worse than before, he brought up the fact that many creatives face consistent instability. He argues that Uber drivers, task-rabbits, and anyone who functions in a gig economy essentially have “exactly the same livelihood that a working-class musician has, meaning no social safety net, no job security, no 401k, no health care.”[23]
The Unbundling of The Album
Another result from the shift from the physical to digital model has resulted in the common practice of “unbundling” an album. According to Josh Kaufman, bundling is when “you combine small offers into a single large offer.” In the case of the music industry, this is a singular album release. “Unbundling” is taking one offer and splitting it up into multiple offers.” He uses the example of selling MP3 downloads instead of the CD.[24] Kriston Robinson, a Billboard Reporter, discusses how this affects songwriters in a TikTok. When songwriters could depend on people buying entire albums, all of the royalties allocated to each person were larger due to the cost of the record itself and the consequent mechanical royalties. Kristen delves into this in her video, saying:
Back in the day, people used to buy entire albums that included maybe 12 songs; maybe there were three singles on it. But when you bought an album, there were royalties that were allocated to every single person on every single track. So, if you were an album cut for a major artist, you were still getting paid really well. Of course, the singles paid better because you also get royalties if it’s played in public if it’s played on the radio. But this created, like, a middle class of songwriters. We did just fine. With streaming, we get so much more granular data on every single move that someone makes on the platform, and so now, basically, if you don’t get the single, then you’re fucked financially. Of course, doing an album cut with a big artist is still helpful, but the difference is vast.[25]
Changing Definitions of a Writer
Another impact of technology and a fast-paced developing industry has been that the producers, writers, and sometimes artists’ particular roles are evolving. As Kristin Robinson says in her TikTok video, “The line between what a producer does and what a songwriter does and what an artist does are all blurring, which means that everyone is basically taking a cut of the publishing, which was typically reserved just for songwriters.” A producer may bring a beat to a writing session, making them a writer and giving them ownership over a piece of the composition. Additionally, the ways the artist is involved in the creative process are changing, and artists are more commonly given writing credits.[26] Additionally, a sample of someone’s song can be used in a new song, giving the original creator a piece of the composition. An example of this is when “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X gave a songwriting credit to Trent Reznor of the Nine Inch Nails, as a sample of their song “Further” was used in “Old Town Road.”[27]
Robinson says in her video that “way back in the day” – which can be considered as the years before the rise of the at-home producer – the songwriter’s job was to write melodies and lyrics, “almost like at a cubicle at a job.” Robinson’s example of this position as someone “like Carole King.” Then, Robinson also uses the example of Aretha Franklin as an example of the recording artist. Aretha Franklin sang many songs written by Carole King and brought them to life as an artist, but as Robinson says, she “didn’t really write that much.” Robinson’s example of a producer this time is someone who “was the person at the physical studio that you went to who would help you affix your song onto tape.”[28] Now, with the rise of technology and constantly evolving roles, “the writing and production is happening at the same place.” [29]
George Howard compares two different producers to make this point. George Martin, the Beatles’ producer, is an example of someone from a traditional era of producers. As Professor Howard explains, George Martin’s job, or someone else’s in a similar role at the time, was to “try and bring the songs to their highest and best form. And that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t involved in the creative process, but he was never credited as a songwriter.” He says a more modern example of a producer is someone like Dr. Dre, who often “bring[s] beats in” and ultimately is “acting as a co-writer.”[30]
Billboard writer Glenn Peoples points out the key issue here, which is “whereas a recording only has one label or artist, a songwriter’s streaming income can drop significantly when a song has multiple co-writers.”[31] Robinson states, “Although I’m all for creative collaboration, I’m certainly not against the fact that the writing rooms have gotten bigger. It just does make it harder financially.” Berklee Songwriting Professor Mark Simos thinks this should prompt a larger discussion of how revenue is distributed in the industry, saying that “the shift towards team-based writing has led to more people splitting the revenue rather than increasing the overall pot.”[32]
America and the Arts
Another area for analysis and opinion on what has left the songwriter in financial vulnerability is America’s cultural and political relationships with the arts. Staff writers of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Public Policy, Berkeley Borkert and Lloyd Skinner, write that “defunding the arts or not financing it according to its needs risks prohibiting creative industries from fostering an independent and positive culture.”[33] There have been multiple attempts for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) to be defunded beginning in 1989 and then repeatedly throughout the 1990s, yet none were passed.[34] However, this past February, the National Endowment for the Arts canceled $2.8 dollars worth of funding that was supposed to be put towards the “Challenge America” program, “a grant program supporting projects for underserved groups and communities.”[35] Alternatively, groups are allowed to apply to the organization’s “general grant program,” which will prioritize projects that “celebrate and honor the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity.”[36]
Additionally, According to Americans for the Arts, “low-income students who are highly engaged in the Arts are more than twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education,” and “students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4% dropout rate– 5x lower than their low socioeconomic status peers.” Americans for the Arts also published that “93% of Americans believ[ing] that the arts are vital to providing a well-rounded education” and “two-thirds of public school teachers believe that the arts are getting crowded out of the school day.”[37]
If America is defunding the arts, both within the government and in schools, it could be interpreted as representative of a political attitude that has only worsened while the music industry has become modernized and digitized. Overarching attitudes toward the arts can cause difficulties in garnering support and attention for these issues. However, as Berklee Professor Kat Reinhert points out, “If we’re going to support the arts, then we need to find ways to support the people making the arts.” [38]
Potential Solutions for the Middle-Class Songwriter
Solutions that can allow songwriters to be compensated in a rapidly modernizing industry include creating new legislation and systems, reworking the state of PROs, labels, publishing companies, and streaming services, and how they work together, and implementing new technologies.
Potential Legislation and the State of PROs
The Living Wage for Musicians Act was introduced to Congress in March 2024 and would create a new royalty for streaming, paying musicians a flat fee of $0.01 (1 penny) instead of the current average, which is roughly .003, (3/1000s of a penny).[39] The royalty would “bypass existing contracts and go directly from platforms to artists.”[40] In addition to the act being introduced, in February 2025, the US Copyright Office issued a notice of inquiry after the number of PROs doubled.[41] Both actions show potential for a shift in legislative attitudes around music consumption and creative rights.
PROs, Labels, Publishers, DSPs, and Potential Collaboration
Some PROs, Labels, Publishers, and DSPs have begun reworking how they work with one another. The new collaboration between Deezer, a streaming service, and SACEM, a French PRO, describes their deal as “the world’s first update.” Under this model, Deezer says that more subscription payments would go toward the artist while fighting fraudulent streaming. These benefits will be offered to the songwriters, composers, and publishers represented by SACEM.[42]
Universal Music Group and Spotify also announced a multi-year agreement called “Streaming 2.0.” This new model has “new paid subscription tiers, new music and non-music content bundling, and a richer audio and visual content catalog.”[43] According to RouteNote, the deal would include changing how royalties are paid to Universal Music Publishing, changing and decreasing bundle-related royalty reductions, and implementing a royalty payout difference between a “bundled user” and a “music-only listener.[44]
Implementing New Technologies
George Howard thinks that for artists, songwriters, and producers to be properly compensated, creatives will have to lean into new technologies that allow for direct payment and precise royalty distribution. Technologies like Web3 and blockchain. Because Spotify doesn’t pay on a per-stream basis, PROs don’t pay on a measured basis, and payments to artists are not exact, he argues that technologies like Web3 remove the intermediaries.[45] George thinks that technology is the path forward, saying:
I think we’re closer than a lot of people believe in terms of seeing it start to take place, where artists will be able to set prices for their works, whether that’s for streaming, licensing, etc., be paid directly when those works are streamed – because we’ll be able to see it, we’ll have better transparency – and be able to set a market bearing price. That’s our only hope, right? That and an expansion of opportunities for artists. Right? Artists need to be able to have their music used in many, many new ways, whether that’s for health, relaxation, etc, and be paid for those types of things. What we cannot do is accept the current standards and the current situations for revenue and opportunities for artists. Nor can we wait for the government to change it.
Conclusion
The disappearance of the songwriting middle class can be attributed to a number of issues, with much of it stemming from music shifting from the physical to a digital model, which undercuts the mechanical royalty both as a consequence of streaming and the unbundling of a record. Additionally, as the modernization of the music industry changes roles between the songwriter, producer, and artist, the old model is outdated and doesn’t account for these shifting positions. On a larger scale, the overarching values surrounding arts funding and education in American politics contribute to a habit of devaluing the arts. Potential solutions to these issues include introducing potential legislation, looking at the state of PROs, having PROs, DSPs, labels, and publishers collaborate, and implementing new technologies that help artists gain financial autonomy.
[1] Carl Hatton, “IFPI’s Global Study Finds We’re Listening to More Music in More Ways than Ever,” IFPI, December 11, 2023
[2] Glenn Peoples, “Who Gets Paid for a Stream?,” Billboard, February 25, 2022,
[3] Daniel Sanchez, “The Richest Artists in the World Make 75%+ of Their Money from Touring,” Digital Music News, December 29, 2022
[4] RIAA, “U.S. Recorded Music Revenues by Format.” Recording Industry Association of America, July 12, 2023
[5] Ditto Music, “How Much Does Spotify Pay per Stream in 2025,” RSS, January 6, 2025,
[6] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[7] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[8] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[9] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[10] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[11] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[12] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[13] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[14] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[15] RIAA, “U.S. Recorded Music Revenues by Format.”
[16] Kristin Robinson and Ed Christman, “Songwriters Earn 2024 Cost of Living Adjustment for Physical and Digital Sales,” Billboard, December 18, 2023
[17] “Mechanical Royalties: Everything You Need to Know ,” Royalty Exchange, October 1, 2024, https://www.royaltyexchange.com/blog/mechanical-royalties-everything-you-need-to-know.
[18] Royalty Exchange, “Mechanical Royalties Guide: 2021” Royalty Exchange, February 2, 2021,
[19] Royalty Exchange, “Mechanical Royalties Guide”
[20] Dan Runcie, “The State of the Middle Class Musician,” The Trapital, July 29, 2023,
[21] Runcie, “The State of the Middle Class Musician,”
[22] Runcie, “The State of the Middle Class Musician,”
[23]Annie Bass and George Howard, Interview with George Howard, February 14, 2025.
[24]Josh Kaufman, “What Is ‘Bundling and Unbundling’?,” Bundling and Unbundling – The Personal MBA, September 1, 2020,
[25] Kristin Robinson, “Why the Songwriting Middle Class Has Disappeared,” TikTok, September 9, 2024,
[26]Kristin Robinson, “Why the Songwriting Middle Class Has Disappeared Part 2 ,” TikTok, September 19, 2024,
[27] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[28] Robinson, “Why the Songwriting Middle Class Has Disappeared Part 2”
[29] Robinson, “Why the Songwriting Middle Class Has Disappeared Part 2”
[30] Bass, Howard, “Interview with George Howard”
[31] Peoples, “Who Gets Paid”
[32]Annie Bass and Mark Simos, Interview with Mark Simos, February 11, 2025.
[33]Berkeley Borkert and Lloyd Skinner, “Arts under Attack: A Multinational Perspective on Creative Arts Education,” The Journal of Interdisciplinary Public Policy, July 2, 2022,
[34]Borkert and Skinner, “Arts under Attack”
[35]Jennifer Schuessler, “Arts Endowment Cuts Grants Dedicated to Underserved Communities,” The New York Times, February 7, 2025,
[36] Schuessler, “Arts Endowment Cuts Grants”
[37] Americans for the Arts, “Facts & Figures,” Americans for the Arts, October 31, 2022,
[38] Annie Bass and Mark Simos, Interview with Mark Simos, personal, February 11, 2025.
[39] The Violin Channel, “U.S. Democrats Introduce Bill to Increase Streaming Royalties for Musicians,” The Violin Channel: World’s Leading Classical Music Platform, March 14, 2024,
[40] United Musicians and Allied Workers, “Make Streaming Pay,” United Musicians and Allied Workers,
[41] David Oxenford, “Copyright Office Commences an Inquiry into the Proliferation of Performing Rights Organizations – Looking at the Complexity of Licensing Musical Works in the United States,” Broadcast Law Blog, February 13, 2025
[42] Mandy Dalugdug, “Deezer Partners With SACEM to Adopt Artist-Centric Payment Model for Publishing Rights in France,” Music Business Worldwide, January 15, 2025,
[43] Tom Marshall, “Spotify and Universal Music Group’s New Deal Pushes towards the Future of Streaming,” RouteNote Blog, January 27, 2025,
[44] Marshall, “Spotify and Universam Music Group’s New Deal”
[45] Bass, Howard, “Interview with George Howard”
