Thom Yorke Blasts Spotify, Pulls Atoms For Peace Music From Service
Thom Yorke is not the biggest fan of Spotify.
The Radiohead fontman has pulled all of his solo songs, as well as the music from his band Atoms For Peace, from the streaming service.
Why? Well, according to Yorke, Spotify’s model pays musicians next to nothing.
Yorke writes on Twitter: “Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples.”
Yorke also retweeted several messages from producer Nigel Godrich.
Godrich writes:We’re off of spotify.. Can’t do that no more man… The reason is that new artists get paid fuck all with this model.. It’s an equation that just doesn’t work… People are scared to speak up or not take part as they are told they will lose invaluable exposure if they don’t play ball. Meanwhile small labels and new artists can’t even keep their lights on. It’s just not right.”
The Guardian reports that musicians are paid less than a penny for every time their song is paid on a service like Spotify.
The company said in a statement that it is currently at the beginning stages of a very long-term project and is committed to creating the most “artist-friendly” music service available.
Spotify didn’t say that it was going to increase payments to artists but it did note that it has already paid more than $500 million to artists this year and expects to pay more than $1 billion by the end of 2013.
Spotify said in a statement: “Spotify’s goal is to grow a service which people love, ultimately want to pay for, and which will provide the financial support to the music industry necessary to invest in new talent and music. We want to help artists connect with their fans, find new audiences, grow their fan base and make a living from the music we all love.
“Right now we’re still in the early stages of a long-term project that’s already having a hugely positive effect on artists and new music. We’ve already paid $500m (£332m) to rights holders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach $1bn. Much of this money is being invested in nurturing new talent and producing great new music.
“We’re 100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible, and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their careers.”
Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples.
— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 14, 2013
Someone gotta say something. It’s bad for new music..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
