Peter Frampton: 55 million streams and I got paid $1700
The American Federation of Musicians has been around since 1896...why aren't they doing anything about this?
One possible reason among multiple is that streaming services/online platforms like Apple Music, Youtube, ITunes, music downloading sites are relatively new unlike other traditional, older mediums like radio, or watching musicians perform live in concert.
FWIW, The UK Musicians Union actually back in the early-to-mid 60's disliked radio and saw it as a threat to most working musicians in the UK and the Continent due to "pirate radio" stations like Radio London, Radio Caroline, Luxembourg, Radio Monte Carlo, blaring 24/7 unregulated rock music off of Britain's commercial territorial waters. The argument was: why should consumers pay for bands or performers singles or albums if you can hear it on the radio for free? So the BBC, after banning pirate radio stations in 1966, only played rock music for certain parts of the day, and created a live, in-studio platform for British and American musicians to play their newest material called Radio One. Geldo, as a former Welsh journalist who worked in London could tell all of us some interesting, juicy stories about those, heady "Swinging London" days plus some sad ones about successful Welsh band Badfinger, who put out a large, laundry list of timely, excellent, superb pop and rock hits and albums but their respective careers and band's momentum was destroyed by a petty, criminal manager and the Beatles having to drop them and fend for themselves after Apple Records collapsed when Beatles broke up in 1970. Two of Badfinger's main members were so devastated by their financial and creative earnings being stolen that they ultimately committed suicide (and blamed their evil, despicable manager in their suicide letters as being a major reason why). All in all, a very sad, tragic story that was all too common among many British rock bands and entertainers. Many of the more successful UK acts eventually had to permanently leave and become tax exiles (even Queen during the early 80's) because of Britain's high income tax laws.
Also, another major issue particularly as it relates more to British bands in the late 60's and 1970's was that they signed bad record deals with promoters and record labels because underworld figures ran the clubs, bars, auditoriums, and even the record labels. Ozzy Osbourne's father-in-law, Don Alden, had connections to the Gambino crime family and the Kray Brothers enforcers. Most UK bands didnt have much a choice back then because the "London underworld" ran most of the clubs back in the late 60's and 70's. Most famous, legendary British rock bands, from Rolling Stones, to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, even the Beatles had some undesirable, figures who had underworld ties to some degree or another. One time, Don Alden famously dangled Robert Stigwood out of his window office because he tried to sign Steve Marriot of the Small Faces, without his approval. One time, when Jimmy Page tried to ask Alden if he could recruit Marriot and Keith Moon for the soon-to-be formed Led Zeppelin, Alden replied, "How would you like to play guitar with five forking broken fingers?"