NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM
Musicians have criticised Spotify CEO Daniel Ek for his recent comments on the rate of album releases.
In an interview published last week (July 31), Ek said it “wasn’t enough” for artists to “record music once every three to four years”.
Since his comments were published, a number of musicians have criticised him for not understanding or overlooking the work that goes into making music and how that can’t be forced.
“‘Music = product and must be churned out regularly,’ says billionaire Daniel Ek,” commented R.E.M.’s Mike Mills. “Go fuck yourself.” However, the musician said a boycott of the platform would only hurt artists more. When a fan suggested that music fans stay off of the service in response, Mills replied: “Boycotting Spotify won’t help the musicians on there.”
Music=product, and must be churned out regularly, says billionaire Daniel Ek.
Go fuck yourself. https://t.co/zJjl3NWjLl
— Mike Mills
(@m_millsey) July 31, 2020
Boycotting Spotify won’t help the musicians on there. https://t.co/neMZpD4pdy
— Mike Mills
Nadine Shah and Jack Garratt called out Ek’s controversial comments for encouraging exploitation of artists. “Im tired of having to kiss the arses of these companies that exploit me and other music makers,” wrote Shah. “We need the whole music community (including fans) to come together and demand change.”
Millionaire Daniel Ek telling us how it is here. What are we to do? Im tired of having to kiss the arses of these companies that exploit me and other music makers. We need the whole music community (including fans) to come together and demand change. https://t.co/88NaecyOtH
— Nadine Shah (@nadineshah) August 1, 2020
Responding to her tweet, Garratt added: “So many companies within the music industry farm the mental health of its artists and then get defensive when we try to repair ourselves or ask for appropriate pay. It is so broken.”
I’ve seen multiple takes on this fader article but this one absolutely nails it. So many companies within the music industry farm the mental health of artists, and then get defensive when we try to repair ourselves or ask for appropriate pay. It is so broken. https://t.co/6WdCpuafzE
— Jack Garratt (@JackGarratt) August 1, 2020
He continued: “You just cannot demand so much of artists and work them to exhaustion and then also tell they aren’t outputting enough music to suit your business model. I took all the time I needed to make my second album. I’ll do it again and again if I need to.”
You just cannot demand so much of artists and work them to exhaustion and then also tell them they aren’t outputting enough music to suit your business model. I took all the time I needed to make my second album. I’ll do it again and again if I need to.
— Jack Garratt (@JackGarratt) August 1, 2020
Garratt also pointed out that the “continuous engagement with fans” Ek had pointed to as a successful tact of artists releasing music more frequently didn’t necessarily correlate with streaming numbers. “Me having x amount of followers doesn’t translate to that many streams or views,” he said. “This is basic.”
Also, it’s all well and good having ‘continuous engagement with my fans’ but that doesn’t mean anything when it comes to streaming numbers. Me having x amount of of followers doesn’t translate to that many streams or views. This is basic.
— Jack Garratt (@JackGarratt) August 1, 2020
Zola Jesus added that Ek’s business strategy did not align with an effective way of producing good music. “It is extremely clear that @Spotify’s billionaire Daniel Ek has never made music or art of any kind for that matter,” she wrote. “He refuses to understand there’s a difference between commodities and art. The potential for culture growth will suffer because of it.”
it is extremely clear that @Spotify billionaire daniel ek has never made music, or art of any kind for that matter. he refuses to understand there's a difference between commodities and art. the potential for cultural growth will suffer because of it.
— ZOLA JESUS OF TSUSHIMA (@ZOLAJESUS) July 30, 2020
Neko Case responded to Zola Jesus’ tweet saying it was “so fucking basic; HE keeps our royalties”.
It’s so fucking basic; HE keeps our royalties.
— Neko Case (@NekoCase) July 30, 2020
See more responses from artists below.
You are an obnoxious greedy little shit Daniel Ek https://t.co/8tZx55LeDe
— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) July 31, 2020
“It’s your fault I don’t pay you fairly.” https://t.co/TsV2EWAllb
— Aidan Moffat (@AidanJohnMoffat) July 31, 2020
Just little correction for the ceo of @Spotify
The schedule to release music over the course of years was a standard set up by the recording industry so as to keep artist under contract longer also due to media/press cycles + time to manufacture & distribute physical units.
— HOUSE EP NOW PLAYING (@LupeFiasco) July 31, 2020
When this guy puts out an album himself I will listen to him tell me about my albums https://t.co/wveGKXTIEk
— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) July 31, 2020
I wonder if Daniel Ek realises that bands like mine only release records every 3 or 4 years because we have to fit it around our day jobs – jobs we need to pay the bills precisely because streaming services underpay artists.https://t.co/2iuphllJyr
— Ben Sizer (@kylotan) August 2, 2020
While you (the listener) benefit & enjoy spotify, it's part of what's killing a major income stream for artist/creators. The amount of artists "rich enough" to withstand this loss are about .0001%. Daniel Ek's solution is for us to write & record more on our dime?! Fuck him! https://t.co/IpPy7QCQWB
— Dee Snider (@deesnider) August 1, 2020
There are quite a few artists that do very well out of Spotify
Most of them own the rights themselves and the music is fuckin awful non descriptive live style tunes.
So look out for my “chilled beats” collection coming soon. https://t.co/xOC6b23UvU— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) August 2, 2020
The contempt with which this man and all like him hold artists is beyond parody. He either doesn’t realise how bad he sounds or doesn’t care. I imagine his billions help him sleep at night https://t.co/wLjQLCKXz0
— Danny McNamara (@dannymcnamara) August 1, 2020
How dare this c**t tell us how to make our music! https://t.co/jdhkmmOOcW. Id like us all to stop him having any of it.Fucking outrageous. pic.twitter.com/uBUAtvKBh3
— adrian utley (@adrianutley) August 1, 2020
In the original interview, Ek had said there was a “narrative fallacy” about the idea that Spotify doesn’t pay enough for artists to live on.
“It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans,” he said. “I feel, really, that the ones that aren’t doing well in streaming are predominantly people who want to release music the way it used to be released.”
In April, PRS director Tom Gray shared data collected by The Trichordist showing how many streams artists need to earn minimum wage on each streaming platform. Musicians promoting their music on Spotify would need 3,114 plays to earn one hour of UK Minimum Wage (£8.72). Only Pandora and YouTube would require more streams to make the same amount.
The post Musicians criticise Spotify CEO for saying it’s “not enough” to release albums “every 3-4 years” appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
