Yesterday Zumic reported on Nigel Godrich's Spotify criticisms on Twitter. Today we have Spotify's response, and some other gems that came out of the Twitter controversy.
A company spokesperson for Spotify's released these statements:
"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 $500M to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach $1 Billion. 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."
Other artists are weighing in on the debate as well, including Atoms for Peace and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, band Four Tet, and music Producer Stephen Street. While Yorke and Four Tet showed support for what Godrich did, Street was unconvinced by the big artist's statements, noting that compensation inadequacies hardly affect a group as popular as Godrich's Radiohead.
Thom Yorke came to Godrich's aid and, in addition to retweeting all of Godrich's statemements, added a few of his own:
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
Four Tet gave a tweet of agreement:
@nigelgod exactly... I had everything on my label taken off. Don't want to be part of this crap.
— Four Tet (@FourTet) July 14, 2013
Then Stephen Street responded, going after Atoms for Peace and Thom Yorke in particular:
Atoms for Peace quit Spotify: ‘It’s bad for new music’ http://t.co/aDOr3zGpuq via @MusicAlly
— Stephen Street (@StreetStephen) July 14, 2013
@MusicAlly bit rich coming from Thom Yorker that Spotify doesn't work for new artists. It's exactly what I said when Radiohead ...
— Stephen Street (@StreetStephen) July 14, 2013
..made their album available for free/ pay what you want a few years back. Suits superstars with 10 years of EMI investment behind them ....
— Stephen Street (@StreetStephen) July 14, 2013
.. It didn't help new upcoming artists at all. Gave the wrong message that music had no value . It's bitten you on the arse Thom!
— Stephen Street (@StreetStephen) July 14, 2013
In his defense, Yorke responded to Street's criticisms by taking to Twitter again:
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
This debate is far from over. Godrich has continued to tweet about the controversy, and we are likely to hear more responses from Spotify soon. The streaming site certainly has some explaining to do if they want new artists to use the medium. As of now, Spotify is becoming synonymous with toxicity for emerging artists.
