Placebo’s Brian Molko On Spotify: “They’re Just Interested In Making Money At The Expense Of Others”

Placebo frontman Brian Molko has spoken out about Spotify, saying the music streaming service isn’t about combating piracy but rather making money at the expense of others, backing previous sentiments expressed by Atoms For Peace members Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich.

Molko told Music Week that he was happy to release singles to Spotify, which could easily be “audio hijacked” anyway, but said he couldn’t see the point in giving the company all of his back catalogue for a “negligible” amount of money:

“I don’t think it’s got anything to do with fighting piracy or providing a service that’s good for the music industry and for new bands. They are just interested in making money at the expense of others. It comes from a place of just pure profit-making on their part.”

This follows Atoms For Peace’s decision to remove all of their solo music and their new album Amok from the service in protest of the paltry royalties new artists receive. Nigel Godrich slammed Spotify in a series of tweets, saying it was “bad for music”. Thom Yorke agreed, tweeting “Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples.” However, other classic Radiohead albums like OK Computer, The Bends and Kid A, all produced by Godrich, are all still available for streaming on Spotify.

Placebo will be releasing their seventh studio effort Loud Like Love on Monday, 16th September and then heading out on a world tour, with Australian dates expected.

(via NME)