The settlement comes after years of scrutiny of Sofar Sounds' business model. Since its debut in London in 2009, the startup expanded to hundreds of cities across the globe, including San Francisco, Santa Cruz and San Jose, and became profitable by charging at the door for "secret shows" while using volunteer crews and paying musicians negligible stipends. When KQED's Emma Silvers broke the story of Sofar Sounds' labor practices in 2017, the company was valued at an estimated $22 million, with investment from Virgin's Richard Branson. Meanwhile, bands were compensated with videos of their performances (and no cash), and then paid $50 per concert once they became "Sofar alums" and played additional shows.

"I think they talk a lot about supporting local artists, but what they're actually doing is perpetuating the idea that it's okay for musicians to get paid shit," Oakland singer-songwriter Madeline Kinney told KQED at the time.