Snoop Dogg encourages other artists to “figure it out” in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America strike against streaming services.
The “Gin and Juice” rapper expressed his support during a panel discussion for the Milken Institute’s 2023 Global Conference in Los Angeles on May 3.
Snoop — whose legal name is Calvin Broadus Jr. — believes musicians are being taken advantage of on streaming services just like the writers who are currently on strike.
The WGA strike launched on May 2, as a result of writers who walked out of production studios and gigs due to being poorly compensated for shows that are streaming online. In his response, Broadus explained how the strike is similar to what has been happening in the music industry.
“Steaming gotta get they s—t together,” he stated during the panel discussion. “‘Cause I don’t understand how the f—k you get paid off of that s—t. Like, I mean, could somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars? Like, that s—t don’t make sense to me.”
The 50-year-old went on to state that the money just isn’t adding up.
“Like, I don’t know who the f—k running the streaming industry if you in here or not,” he continued. “But n—a, you need to give us some information on how the f—k to track this money down.”
He said the “main gripe” many musicians have is not being properly compensated for their music streaming online.
“‘Cause one plus one ain’t adding up to two. That s—t don’t add up, and I have to say it, because that’s the main gripe with a lot of us artists is that we do major numbers with streams and this s—t, but it don’t add up to the money. Like, where the f—k is the money?” said Broadus.
He said when he first started out as a rapper, he made money based on the number of record sales. He also revealed that he only made $16,000 on 500 million streams on YouTube.
“We need to figure it out the same way the writers are figuring it out,” he said. “The writers are striking because of streaming, they can’t get paid. Because when it’s on the platform, it’s not like in the box office.”
Broadus added that some artists have millions and millions of streams, but they don’t have millions of dollars.
“I know I’m going off script right now, but f—k it, this is business,” he expressed. “YouTube, y’all motherf—s need to break bread or fake dead.”
Fans reacted to video clips of the discussion on social media and noted that Snoop Dogg always keeps it real.
One person tweeted, “He just want everyone to have what they’re owed lol I wanna work for him.” Another user posted a gif of Broadus looking through a monocular with the caption, “Where the F*** is the money.”
The WGA strike has either halted production or will soon stop airing new episodes of shows like Quinta Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary,” “The Talk,” and HBO’s “Rap SH!T.”
As a result, the forthcoming MTV Movie & TV Awards will no longer be held live. The WGA strike has also impacted rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s pre-scheduled debut on “Saturday Night Live” on May 6.
