Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / CC from 2.0
Seth Rogen joins the chorus with Snoop Dogg on why streaming platforms’ profits don’t seem to end up in the artists’ hands.
The ongoing Writers Guild of America strike has prompted comments from Snoop Dogg suggesting music artists could do the same with DSPs. Now Seth Rogen is musing that maybe top executives shouldn’t be getting huge compensation packages.
“Personally, I’m concerned that I have no idea how successful these shows and movies that we are producing for streaming services are,” Rogen called. “The secrecy just makes me think they make way more money off of all of us than they want to share with anyone. These executives earn insane salaries that you would only earn by running an incredibly profitable company.”
“Thank God for these unions and their ability to force these giant corporations that have banded together to depress workers’ wages to actually do something now and then and act fairly and justly,” adds Rogen .
The WGA called a strike on May 1 after the group failed to reach an agreement with the AMPTP. Meanwhile, writers across the country are on strike outside studios and production on several programs has been halted. Snoop Dogg commented on the strike and suggested that music artists should do something similar. “The authors stand out through streaming; They can’t be paid,” the rapper said.
“I don’t understand how the hell you get paid for this shit,” says Snoop. “Can someone tell me how to get a billion streams and not a million dollars? The main criticism of many of us artists is that we do big numbers, but that doesn’t make any money. Like, where the hell is the money?” That’s exactly what Seth Rogen asks Snoop.
The WGA is also asking Hollywood studios for assurances against using AI to replace writer’s rooms.