Alice In Chains mainman Jerry Cantrell says he has seen evidence that some bands earn as little as "1000th of a cent" each time their song is played on a streaming platform.
Cantrell believes the streaming setup is a "bad business model" for artists and says profits continue to be squeezed.
He tells Primordial Radio (transcribed by Blabbermouth): "The music business really wasn't set up in a very equitable way. It was kind of predatory loans to bands that you paid back at 75 cents on the dollar.
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"And as far as keeping your publishing, that was a real battle and very few artists did that. The new model has taken that and kind of intensified it a bit. I was looking at – I can't remember the artist – but I was looking at something that gets millions and millions of streams or whatever, and people are being paid 1000th of a cent every time it's played.
"In the old days, when you got played on the radio, that turned into like a penny or something then, and that adds up. I'm a real advocate for artists' rights, man."
He continues: "The new model of the streaming platform has really taken the old model of really being a small cut to the artist and made it really even smaller. So the prices to do business – rent a bus, gas, fuel, salaries, travel – they all continue to go up and the income continues to go down for artists of all sizes now.
"It's a bad business model. It would be nice to see it a little bit fairer toward the artist. The landscape is always moving, the clock is always running and you can count on the fact that it's changing.
"And so that's part of life, is as you go through the days, weeks and years to try to feel the changes, be aware of them, try to adapt to them and figure out how to operate."
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sparked an online backlash earlier this year after saying the cost of creating "content" is "close to zero".
Cantrell recently released his latest solo album, I Want Blood. It was described by Classic Rock magazine as "flawless and unflinching classic rock for a cruel modern world, and it’s quite brilliant."
