Cracker’s David Lowery has slammed Pandora for paying only $16.89 worth of fees for over one million plays the band’s hit single Low.

Writing on the Trichordist blog he posted his royalty statements from US satellite radio service Sirius, Terrestrial FM and AM stations and Pandora for comparison. Click the pic below to see the royalty statements and his blog comments.

In the blog post he said:

“As a songwriter Pandora paid me $16.89* for 1,159,000 play of “Low” last quarter.  Less than I make from a single T-shirt sale.  Okay that’s a slight  exaggeration.  That’s only the premium multi-color long sleeve shirts and that’s only at venues that don’t take commission.  But still.

“Soon you will be hearing from Pandora how they need Congress to change the way royalties are calculated so that they can pay much much less to songwriters and performers…

“Here’s an idea. Why doesn’t Pandora get off the couch and get an actual business model instead of asking for a handout from congress and artists? For instance: Right now Pandora plays one minute of commercials an hour on their free service. Here’s an idea!  Play two minutes of commercials and double your revenue! (Sirius XM often plays 13 minutes and charges a subscription).

“I urge all songwriters to post their royalty statements and show the world  just how terrible webcasting rates are for songwriters.”

A Pandora spokesman countered Lowrey’s claims, telling The Hollywood Reporter that Lowery’s maths are ‘fuzzy.’ He said Pandora “is by far the highest paying form of radio in the world … For perspective, to reach the exact same audience, Pandora currently pays over 4.5 times more in total royalties than broadcast radio for the same song.”

Lowrey joins Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and Pink Floyd in their criticisms of how music streaming services underpay musicians.