Thom Yorke Removes His Songs From Spotify: Updated
“New artists get paid f*** all with this model,” tweeted the singer and Nigel Godrich.
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke has pulled his music from streaming service Spotify. The musician, currently having what seems to be a whole heap of ravey fun with his other project, Atoms For Peace, took to Twitter along with his bandmate and super-producer Nigel Godrich. Nigel, also known as the sixth member of Radiohead, broke the news that the entire Atoms For Peace catalogue would not be available on the site.
Anyway. Here’s one. We’re off of spotify.. Can’t do that no more man..
Small meaningless rebellion.— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
Later, Nigel explained why he’d done it.
The numbers don’t even add up for spotify yet.. But it’s not about that.. It’s about establishing the model which will be extremely valuable
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
As did Thom.
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
Accused of hurting the fans, Yorke tweeted that he was standing up for musicians.
“your small meaningless rebellion is only hurting your fans … a drop in the bucket really” No we’re standing up for our fellow musicians
— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 14, 2013
And when someone pointed out that Radiohead had released the In Rainbows album virtually for free–the band asked the fans to pay what they thought it was worth–this was Yorke’s response.
for me In Rainbows was a statement of trust .people still value new music ..that’s all we’d like from Spotify. don’t make us the target.
— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 15, 2013
Update: Yesterday Now This News released a video about the dust-up:
And Spotify later released a statement regarding the issue.
“”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 US$500M to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach US$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.”
[Image: Flickr user Tokyo Times]
