Snoop Dogg has expressed his intense dissatisfaction with the streaming model for artists in a viral video.
The rapper and music mogul recently took part in a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
As part of the talk, Snoop – real name Calvin Broadus – went off on a tangent about how disappointing the financial returns of the streaming era have been for music artists.
“I don’t understand how the f*** you get paid off that s***,” he said to the amusement of the audience.
“Could somebody explain to me how you could get a billion streams and not get a million dollars? That s*** don’t make sense to me.”
The Death Row Records owner then turned his speech to the audience, asking whether those in charge of streaming services were present to hear his message.
"I don’t know who the f*** is running the streaming industry if you in here or not? But you need to give us some information on how the f*** to track this money down, because one plus one ain’t adding up to two.”
Snoop went on to note that when he first released music in the 1990s, artists would get a specific percentage of the sales of CDs and vinyls, but argued that the same transparency doesn’t exist with streaming numbers.
Much of the same sentiment has been expressed by Hollywood writers, who are currently on strike until a satisfactory pay deal is struck with streaming bosses.
Linking musicians’ and writers’ struggles, Snoop continued: “How many streams, how much money do I get? We need to find a way to figure that out, the same way that the writers who are striking because of streaming – they can't get paid.”
At the time of writing, a video tweet with Snoop’s speech has been viewed on Twitter more than 143,000 times. Many fans have shared their appreciation for the artist speaking out on the topic on behalf of artists old and new.
“Snoop is a real one for this!” wrote one commenter, while another added: “People discount Snoop, but he is a savvy, savvy man who cuts right to the heart of it. He even brought receipts and math.”
Writer Joel Morris tweeted: “Snoop here reiterating the big point. If you explain your artistic career to a stranger, or a relative at a wedding, they all expect that you would benefit hugely from a big hit. But creators don't. And that's not a sustainable industry. That's theft of others' property.”
Earlier this year, the “Drop it Like it’s Hot” star thrilled fans across the UK when he integrated his Just Eat jingle into his live arena shows, celebrating his decades in the music industry.
