I protested on Monday alongside some of my fellow creators because I’m tired. In my time as a professional songwriter, I’ve seen some of the most talented writers and creatives literally pull the plug on their dream because they can’t afford to sustain themselves. Some of those creatives made the soundtracks to our lives. This illusion that because we’re in the room with an artist, means we’re well off or taken care of is complete bullshit. Then songwriters feel the need to carry on this illusion so that the world and industry respect us and see us as an equal.... And it’s exhausting. The reality is, we can’t sustain ourselves on publishing. We can’t pay our rent with these current streaming rates. We feel taken advantage of, we feel like frauds day in and day out. We don’t feel supported by the artists we write for, the labels they’re signed to, and the publishers that are supposed to be our “partners”. Yes, I was featured on @noteable before, but my checks still ain’t noteable. I went to the Secret Genius camps, and my takeaway was a free hoody. We need real change$. I’ve paid my “dues”, I’ve developed your artists, I’ve revived careers, I’ve given a lot of them identities. I’m sorry that shit is no longer free. If you care about me as a human, if you respect my pen, if you “need me” for your artist... show me. A billboard in Times Square is nice, but It doesn’t pay my bills. And I’ll keep pulling up to protest as long as I have to until y’all actually hear US. Super proud of my team @the100percenters_ for making noise when it seems like the entire industry is afraid to.