Mike Portnoy questioned Spotify’s royalty payments

Drummer Mike Portnoy (Sons of Apollo, ex-Dream Theater) vented about payments made by Spotify in a social media post on his official Instagram account. The musician pointed out that his annual income from the streaming platform barely pays for his family's dinner.

In the comments, the musician got the support of Derrick Green, lead singer of Sepultura , and Brad Wilk, drummer for Rage Against the Machine, as well as Jeff Scott Soto, lead singer and colleague of Portnoy at Sons of Apollo

Mike Portnoy wrote the following on his Instagram account:

“If @spotify is gonna send out these stupid end of year statistics for all their bands and artists to show off and brag about, maybe they should also include the amount of $ that they’re (NOT) paying the artists for those amount of plays as well... 🙄 #fuckspotify
#2020artistwrapped #2020artistfucked
EDIT: Btw, I assume you all realize I’m not calling YOU (the fans) “suckers”. I do appreciate you all for listening, esp the ones who still support the artists & buy music. This was an existing meme pointing out that the entire industry are “suckers” for letting @spotify get away w robbery”

One user asked why was Mike posting this if he’s worth $8 Million to which Mike replied:

"You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. For your information, the money I make from Shitify for a year may possibly buy myself and my family one dinner out. And without touring for any musicians in 2020 (and beyond?), nobody is making any income… yet Spotify is raking in billions every year just by simply giving away our music. What do you do for a living? Do get you paid for it or do it for free?"

See the full post below: