Meghan Trainor's songwriter: I only made $5,679 from 178 million Spotify streams

NASHVILLE, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Songwriter Kevin Kadish, the co-writer behind Meghan Trainor's 2014 song "All About That Bass," says he only made $5,679 for its 178 million streams online.

During a roundtable discussion on copyright issues at Belmont University in Nashville Tuesday, hosted by the House Judiciary Committee, writers of the past year's most successful songs reportedly came forward to report their meager royalties from online streaming platforms.

"I've never heard a songwriter complain about radio royalties as much as streaming royalties," songwriter Kadish said, according to the Tennessean. "That was the real issue for us, like one million streams equals $90. For a song like 'All About That Bass,' that I wrote, which had 178 million streams. I mean $5,679? That's my share. That's as big a song as a songwriter can have in their career and No.1 in 78 countries. But you're making $5,600. How do you feed your family?"

The committee hosted the copyright listening session as a means to leave Washington and hear about the issues those in the music industry face directly in Nashville. Members of the group are sponsoring the Songwriter Equity Act, which is designed to enhance and modernize royalty systems for writers and publishers.

Although the Recording Industry Association of America reported this week streaming revenues have surpassed $1 billion, those behind many of the money-earning songs claim they aren't getting enough of it because government-set royalty rates aren't reflective of their work's market value.

Pandora reported Wednesday, a day after the Judiciary Committee's visit to Nashville, it has reached a high-point in royalty payments this year -- a total of around $500 million. However, the company did not specify just how that money is divided.