They earn millions and the extent of their diva-esque demands is often mind boggling. But tomorrow, Robbie Williams, KT Tunstall and the members of Radiohead will join a group of high-profile musicians to protest at how badly they are treated by record companies and music streaming websites like YouTube.

The inaugural meeting of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), which will be held behind closed doors at a secret West End venue is aimed at giving famous names a greater say in how music industry contracts are struck in an increasingly opaque digital age.

The FAC, which describes itself as a “coalition, not a union”, has been organised by Billy Bragg, the veteran protest singer, Dave Rowntree, the Blur drummer turned Labour Party candidate, and Radiohead, who walked out of a deal with EMI to release their last album In Rainbows directly over the internet.

It says it does not seek to compete with the Musicians Unions and aims to represent the famous names in the business - the so-called “featured artists” who appear on the covers of CDs and are named as those behind the songs - who generate an estimated 95 per cent of industry revenues.

But the timing of its birth is pertinent, coming as YouTube prepares to block thousands of music videos on its site amid a dispute over the royalties.

“Google, YouTube’s owner is a company that makes billions in profits; we think they should be paying artist royalties from the advertising revenue they make,” Billy Bragg told The Times. “A dispute like this illustrates the needs for the creation of the Featured Artists Coalition, so we have have a voice and the public understand that sites like Google should be paying for music.”

The stars complain that performers often do not receive any royalties from digital music deals - struck on confidential terms none of the artists understand - and that music companies unfairly restrict creative expression by hanging on to copyright for up to 50 years.

Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien, said: “The music companies did a deal with Nokia recently, so they could launch phones with access to all sorts of music. We think they all received advances from Nokia, but nobody is saying who got what - and we think some of that money should go to the artists.”

Another target of complaints is MySpace, the social networking website owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times. Billy Bragg said: “I don’t know how much money MySpace makes from advertising, but we don’t receive any royalties from it. They are not putting any money back into content.”

Musicians’ pages on MySpace are categorised by the company as a “promotional platform” and a result the site does not believe it has to pay a royalty of the kind that falls due whenever a song is played on radio, live, or on a stereo in a shop, bar or restaurant. Royalties are paid on a separate MySpace music downloading service, which only operates in the US.

Under pressure from rampant illegal downloading, record companies are increasingly striking new kinds of digital music deals, in which they license their entire catalogues to internet providers who are willing to charge their customers a fee.

Last year, Nokia offered a pay-as-you-go mobile, priced at £129.99, which also gave owners the right to download and keep any song recorded on one of the four major labels, Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI.

The performers believe that only by representing themselves will they be taken seriously by the music industry - who they accuse of ignoring their managers - digital music companies such as Nokia and MySpace and politicians. “To get the attention of these people we need somebody like Robbie Williams on board,” Bragg said.

Complaints about copyright are also expected to dominate, amid concerns that record companies insist on keeping ownership of songs for the entire fifty year period they remain under copyright. “It’s like taking out a mortgage on a house, paying off the mortgage and you still don’t end up owning the house,” O’Brien said.

However, there are signs that the effort at collective action is not impressing the record companies. One senior industry executive, who asked not to be named, said: “I don’t know if the the industry needs another lobby group; there are already plenty out there. We need to all pull together here.”

Other attendees are expected to include singer-songwriter Kate Nash, the Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Limahl the former frontman of Kajagoogoo. But to form a plan of action will require agreement from a string of famous names who are not used to collective action. “We’ll have to see how it goes,” O’Brien said. “It could all end up in a great big ruck.”