How Streaming Services are Screwing Lady Gaga (and Every Other Artist)

Streaming services like Spotify are notorious for making tiny, per-play payments. But it turns out that none of that matters, because none of that makes it back to the artist. And now we have proof: here’s a copy of Lady Gaga’s contract with Interscope Records, owned by Universal Music Group, the largest label in the world.

Pay careful attention to the second page, section 10.06, which states that Interscope will not pay anything to Lady Gaga on licensing deals that involve the entire label catalog. This is exactly how licensing deals are arranged with streaming services. According to the label source that leaked this document to Digital Music News, this covers any and all revenues coming back from streaming services, including per-play revenues and acquisitions (like the recent one involving Apple and Beats).