Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke has pulled his solo material, as well as music by his new band Atoms for Peace, from
The tracks are already gone.
And in a series of Tweets, Yorke blasted the streaming music service:
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
“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
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
Radiohead producer and Atoms for Peace collaborator Nigel Godrich further elucidated the move on Twitter:
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
Someone gotta say something. It's bad for new music..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
The reason is that new artists get paid fuck all with this model.. It's an equation that just doesn't work
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
Godrich also highlights the bind artists find themselves in if they don't sign up for digital streaming services:
Plus 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..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
Millions of streams gets them a few thousand dollars.. Not like radio at all..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
And he provides some insight into why after railing against Pandora in a recent op-ed, Pink Floyd recently added all its music to Spotify. The Eagles also just signed up:
Anyway. Thems the breaks. Opinions welcome.. but discussion and new thinking necessary.. If you have a massive catalogue - a major label...
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
..for example.. then you're quids in. It's money for old rope.. But making new recorded music needs funding.. Some records can be made in ..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
.. a laptop, but some need musician and skilled technicians.. These things cost money.. Pink floyds catalogue has already generated billions
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
.. of dollars for someone(not necessarily the band) so now putting it on a streaming site makes total sense.. But if people had been ..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
..listening to spotify instead of buying records in 1973... I doubt very much if dark side would have been made.. It would just be too ..
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013
..expensive. Anyway thumbs hurting now... ;)
— nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013