Nigel Godrich And Thom Yorke Publicly Slam Spotify - Radiohead Manager And Spotify Bosses Reply
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Written by Elliott Batte
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and the band's producer Nigel Godrich have pulled their Atoms For Peace project, and Yorke's solo record, from streaming service Spotify in a row over remuneration for up and coming artists.
Godrich went on a Twitter tirade on Sunday, announcing that they'd be leaving Spotify, and was joined by Yorke soon after, who retweeted his messages and then wrote some of his own. Check out a collection below:
Spotify then publicly defended itself, telling Music Week:
"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 rights-holders 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."
Addressing the claims and continuing his explanation, Godrich wrote:
Yorke then joined in with some tweets of his own:
Now, the story has taken yet another turn, as Godrich and Yorke's manager Brian Message has got in touch with the BBC World Service's Newshour to disagree with them. He told the site (in an interview you can check out below):
"Streaming services are a new way for artists and fans to engage. As a manager of Thom I obviously sit up and take note when he says, 'Listen guys we need to look at how this works.' It's a healthy debate that's going on right now. He's rightly asking the question of, 'What's in this for new music and new artists?' I think we're all debating this. [But] as the model gets bigger I think we'll find a place where artists and managers and all creators can all receive what they regard as equitable remuneration.
"It's not black and white, it's a complicated area. There's been over 20 attempted reviews of Copyright and how it operates in the internet era, and there's been no satisfactory solution to it. The bottom line is, technology is here to stay, and evolution of technology is always going to go on. It's up to me as a manager to work with the likes of Spotify and other streaming services to best facilitate how we monetise those [platforms] for the artists we represent. It's not easy but it's great to have the dialogue."
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