Snoop Dogg gave props to striking Hollywood writers as he questioned streaming models that leave artists and writers out to dry, Variety reported.
At a panel discussion Wednesday, the hip-hop legend related challenges in the music industry to those facing film and TV writers, saying creators “can’t get paid” from “fucked up” streaming models.
Musical artists “need to figure it out the same way the writers are figuring it out,” Snoop 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.”
Paltry streaming residuals are one of the major reasons members of the Writers Guild of America unions have been on strike since Tuesday. (JS’s unionized employees are represented by WGA East.)
The rapper’s remarks came at a panel discussion at the Milken Institute largely focused on Gamma, a music distribution startup that Snoop has a business relationship with.
The rapper, who acquired Death Row Records in 2022, previously explained on the “Drink Champs” podcast last year that he took the label’s albums off of streaming platforms because they “don’t pay.”
In Wednesday’s discussion, he added that he didn’t understand “how the fuck you get paid off of that shit.”
“Somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars,” he said. “That’s the main gripe with a lot of us artists, is that we do major numbers … but it don’t add up to the money. Like, where the fuck is the money?”
Snoop told his fellow panelists that his comedy “The Underdoggs” and his upcoming biopic have been delayed by the strike.
“We slated to get it rocking and rolling … after the strike, I guess,” he said.
It’s not certain how long the WGA strike will go on for.
Snoop’s words of support toward the writers follow similar shows of solidarity by other stars including Jay Leno, Shonda Rhimes and Drew Barrymore.
The strike, which has paused production on several shows, began amid contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.