Photo: Wenn
The Who's Peter Townshend has hit out at the rise of streaming services, declaring that Spotify owner Daniel Ek is 'a fucking crook'.
Towsnhend admits he uses the streaming service but is deeply unconvinced by the financial model behind the market leader. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Townshend explains: "I'm a user of Spotify so I feel like a complete hypocrite when I say 'I think the guy that runs it is probably a fucking crook'. Take me to court. I was reading about some artist who had something like 450,000 plays and he got a check for [almost nothing]. It doesn't make any sense."
Townshend also believes that this lack of revenue is also stifling new music. "I read a thing today that it cost the average band $10,000 to go and play their first gig at SXSW. Jesus fucking Christ. You know we used to get paid to do this kind of thing."
Read the full interview with Townshend in the 19 April issue out now.
Townshend's comments come after Portishead's Geoff Barrow discussed how poorly the service is for artists. He Tweeted this week "34,000,000 streams Income After tax = £1700" and blamed Apple, Youtube, Spotify and Universal Music Group. He clarified his remarks afterwards explaining "I've got nothing against streaming a record. But I've got a lot against people giving my work away for free."
The Who recently announced the full support bill for their British Summer Time Hyde Park show on 26 June will feature Gaz Coombes, Sleaford Mods and The Rifles. For the final date on the band's huge Who Hits 50 tour, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend will be joined by former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, Weller-approved mod throwbacks The Rifles and the endlessly quoatable duo Sleaford Mods. They join the previously announced acts including Paul Weller himself, Kaiser Chiefs and Johnny Marr.
Roger Daltrey has previously described the show as “the beginning of the long goodbye". This will be the fourth time the band have played Hyde Park (three times as headliners and once as part of Live 8). "It's always a good gig," Daltrey has said of the central London setting. "It's got nice grass, beautiful trees." He added: "I remember doing it with an eye patch holding my eye in when we did Quadrophenia, that was a nightmare. We had a quarter of a million people coming the next day and I've got a fractured cheekbone. How we did that show I'll never know."
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