During the Web Summit conference in Dublin, the U2 frontman says that music services like Spotify actually help musicians get their music heard.
- Nov 8, 2014
AceShowbiz - After Taylor Swift removed her music from Spotify and later accused it of not fairly compensating artists, Bono came to the streaming service's defence. The U2 frontman also called out record labels and even said that Spotify and other similar platforms actually helped musicians get their music heard.
"Spotify [is] giving up 70 percent of all [its] revenues to rights owners. It's just that people don't know where the money is because the record labels haven't been transparent," the Irish rocker said during the Web Summit conference in Dublin, as cited by The Guardian.
"The real enemy is not between digital downloads or streaming, the real enemy, the real fight is between opacity and transparency. The music business has historically involved itself in quite considerable deceit," he continued. "But if we change that bit, and people can actually see how many times they're being played, where they're being played, get access to information on the people who are listening to them, get paid direct debit... I think those payments will add up to something, as the world gets more transparent."
"I think artists should be paid way more than they are," he explained. "But the greatest way you serve your songs is to get them heard."
Bono added that services like Spotify were good things for new artists. "I'm already paid too much. I'm a spoiled rock star," he said. "I'm the wrong spokesperson for this, but I have to tell you if I were starting a band now, aged 17 or 18, I would be very excited... Though it is clear that there are some traumas as we move from physical to digital and 20th century to 21st century, and the people paying the highest price for those traumas are songwriters rather than performers, I still think forming a band is so exciting."
After pulling her music from Spotify earlier this week, Swift explained her decision when she talked with Yahoo! Music. Calling the service "a grand experiment," she said, "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music. And I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free."
