Sixx:A.M. have issued a message urging Google to pay artists more money for streaming their videos on their YouTube network.

A message from Sixx:A.M. states:

“We recently completed our fourth album called Prayers For The Damned, in our singer/producer James Michael’s recording studio. We are a lucky band, grateful to have all had success prior to the creation of Sixx:A.M. Nikki came from Mötley Crüe, DJ played guitar in Guns N’ Roses for the past six years and James has had a successful career as a writer and producer. Releasing an album and being part of a tour going on sale, allows us to use the promoters marketing money to create a larger platform to get our message out, and having a record company that generates publicity gives us an opportunity to speak up about issues we think are important—specifically the crisis with the music business and YouTube.

“Sixx:A.M. has always been vocal about artists’ rights. We stood with Taylor Swift when she spoke up about the absence of royalty payments to artists by Apple Music. The band has also long been an advocate of new artists, and Nikki has featured them heavily on his radio show, Sixx Sense, and via his social media. We chose today to speak up about how YouTube unfairly pays artists and labels an estimated 1/6 of what it’s competitors, Spotify and Apple pay and why this must be addressed, along with a revision of the antiquated Safe Harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

YouTube’s parent corporation, Google, has the second highest market capitalization in the world and its two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are worth a combined $75 billion, and total 2015 revenue of Google was $75 billion. The total annual revenue of the global music business, in comparison, is less than $15 billion. We have deep respect for Google’s spirit of innovation and YouTube’s contribution to the field of technology and entertainment, in fact the data we are citing comes from Google itself, but the facts don’t lie: Our large community of hardworking artists is being exploited to make a very small percentage of people extremely rich.

This is an important issue to us. We are the lucky ones, like so many veteran artists, who came up in an era where there was much more income from record sales. Today, streaming is a fraction of income from that time. This is not about us. We are speaking up for the current and future generation of musicians who must be compensated fairly for their hard work. We would not have had Prince, Blondie, Bruce Springsteen, Ice Cube, Taylor Swift, or many other artists without a system to support and nurture them.

We support technology and its ability to bring music to more people around the globe. All we ask, is for ALL artists to receive fair pay. When Google first started, its corporate motto was “Don’t Be Evil.” That motto has since changed to “Do The Right Thing.” It’s time to live up to your corporate mottos, Google and YouTube, and invest in the future of music.”

On April 29th, Sixx:A.M. will release the first volume of their upcoming double album, Prayers For The Damned, via Eleven Seven Music. Frontman James Michael has launched Fly On The Wall, a video series that invites you behind the scenes.

"Every week I will feature a different element of creating Sixx:A.M.'s music," says James. "As the producer and mixer, I am responsible for recording and capturing every performance, every guitar riff, every bass part, every drum beat... every sound you hear! There are so many layers to this process and I'm excited to share them with you so that you have a better understanding of how records are made and what I do.

Episode 4: "Rise" will give you a basic understanding of the mixing process.

The first three episodes can be seen below.

Available now are limited edition band curated Prayers For The Damned album pre-order merch packages and experiences. These include limited edition signed copies of the new album on CD and vinyl, plus once in a lifetime personal experiences like dinner with the band, in-studio experiences, and more! Check out the full list at this location.

"We are on a mission to give our fans even more than they could have hoped for, both musically and visually." - Dj Ashba

“Sixx:A.M. is in the most creative place of our careers. For James, Dj and myself, we think it’s the perfect time to release so much quality music to our fans who’ve been supporting us over the last three albums.” - Nikki Sixx

"Between this album and Vol. 2 (coming out later this year) we'll leave no stone unturned in our quest to create important music and push the boundaries of rock." - James Michael

Prayers For The Damned tracklisting:

“Rise”
“You Have Come To The Right Place”
“I’m Sick”
“Prayers For The Damned”
“Better Man”
“Can't Stop”
“When We Were Gods”
“Belly Of The Beast”
“Everything Went To Hell”
“The Last Time (My Heart Will Hit The Ground)”
“Rise Of The Melancholy Empire”

Sixx:A.M. tour dates:

April
30 - Jacksonville, FL - Welcome To Rockville

May
1 - Fort Myers, FL - Fort Rock Festival
3 - Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom
4 - Birmingham, AL - Oak Mountain Amphitheater (w/ Disturbed and Rob Zombie)
6 - Charlotte, NC - Carolina Rebellion
7 - Richmond, VA - The National
8 - Bethlehem, PA - Sand’s Event Center
10 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head Live
11 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
13 - Ft Wayne, IN - Piere’s
14 - Kansas City, MO - KQRC’s Rockfest
15 - Somerset, WI - Northern Invasion
17 - Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall
18 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
20 - Columbus, OH - Rock On The Range
21 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
22 - Albany, NY - Rock ‘n Derby
24 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
27 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma
29 - San Antonio, TX - River City Rockfest

June
2 - Monza, Italy - Gods Of Metal
3 - Nuremberg, Germany - Rock im Park
5 - Mendig, Germany - Rock am Ring
7 - Lodz, Poland - The Power Festival
9 - Solvesborg, Sweden - Sweden Rock Festival
11 - Castle Donington, UK - Download Festival
12 - Newport, UK - Isle of Wright Festival
16 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Konzertfabrik Z7
17 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Festival
18 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
22 - Stockholm, Sweden - Grona Lund
23 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhell
24 - Halden, Norway - Tons of Rock

July
30 - Alberta, Canada - Sturgis Alberta Motorcycle Rally and Festival

 

 

(Photo - Dustin Jack)