The rising popularity of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music has caused an uproar amongst songwriters, arguing that they deserved more of a cut from total streaming revenues. Change starts today, as the US Copyright Royalty Board announced its plan to increase songwriters rates by 43.8% over the course of the next five years.

Despite the writers initially arguing for a revenue cut per-stream, this modified agreement is undoubtedly a huge step in the right direction for proper payment to creatives. David Israelite of the National Music Publishers Association called the change the “best songwriters have ever had.”

Stay tuned for the repercussions of this new royalty adjustment (higher subscription fees, more legal battles?).