Irish artists support Thom Yorke's Spotify stance

A number of Irish artists have come out in support of Thom Yorke pulling Atoms For Peace’s Amok and his solo album, The Eraser, from Spotify amidst claims that the streaming service does little to financially support emerging talent.

Giving the Radiohead man the ‘thumbs up, Dublin outfit Halves say: “We removed all our stuff last month; very glad we did. The royalties are rubbish, but the main reason is their ‘With Spotify you’ll never have to buy music again!’ slogan. Streaming is great and very helpful especially for smaller acts, but a line has to be drawn when Spotify imply buying music is a burden. It’s not; it’s a great thing! We’re glad big names are taking a stance, though don’t know if it’ll change anything.”

On a more positive note, Halves add: “Soundcloud and Bandcamp are great. We’ve high hopes for iTunes Radio. The ‘try before you buy’ concept is fantastic.”
Having earlier tweeted: “Another artist rebels against what seems to be the most corrupt music streaming service ever”, Nanu Nanu’s Laura Sheeran tells Hot Press: “I'm not one of those who believes people have to 100% pay to listen to music but if a massive multi-million dollar industry is making money off subscriptions and the artists aren't getting paid properly, I think that's corrupt and wrong.

“I agree 100% with Thom Yorke’s sentiments. He's supporting up-and-coming bands who maybe aren't attached to a big label and aren’t getting what they’re due. We found ourselves on Spotify recently but we've never uploaded any of our music on there, nor have we been afforded the chance to set up any method for payment of our supposed ‘royalties’ either.”

Also weighing in behind Thom Yorke is Philly Byrne, lead singer with Northern Irish metallers Gama Bomb.
“Nobody's embraced digital music as much as Gama Bomb – we were pretty much the first signed band ever to give away a full album for free – but with rise of these 'paid model' services, the wild frontier is starting to look pretty fruitless,” Byrne rues. “We've got four albums. Our first three are on Spotify and Grooveshark, the non-paid version of Spotify. The fourth one isn't, because our label disagree with using those services. It's a tough one: if we don't supply it on streaming sites, frustrated fans will almost certainly download it for free. If we do supply it, we get the shaft from those platforms, just like Thom Yorke said.

“And that's it: it comes down to a choice between the breadline and oblivion.

Here's the answer: the platforms that provide music need to pay the creators of the music. Free music can still work, but only for the consumer. The guy who sells ads and user data off the back of my music? He sure as shit needs to pay me for it.

“Digital music is quickly becoming even tighter, even more rigid and exploitative than the old physical system. We need to find a way forward that rewards artists, not the shareholders.”