The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe Slams “Satanic Corporation” Apple Music

Anton Newcombe, frontman of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, has claimed that Apple threatened to remove the band’s music from iTunes if Newcombe did not comply with their three month royalty-free policy.

Apple’s new streaming service Apple Music is set to offer the service to users free for three months, however, it is believed that during this period artists on indie labels will earn no money if their songs are streamed.

Newcombe took to Twitter to explain the situation, calling the company “Devils”.

“They said we want to stream your music free for 3 months..I said what if I say no, and they said “we’ll take your music off itunes. hard ball? fuck these satanic corporations,” he wrote.

“They shouldn’t threaten people to work for free.its [sic] not ok for these fucking idiots to decide art has no value,” he continued.

It’s a sentiment that many are echoing in wake of the news of the three-month royalty-free period, with independent labels in particular worried about the implications of the move.

Yesterday, the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) criticised Apple for expecting indie labels to “shoulder the financial burden” of the trial period and said they could not endorse Apple Music’s proposed agreement.

British record company The Beggars Group, which looks after the likes Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver, have also released a statement expressing their concerns about the free aspect of Apple Music.

“Given the natural response of competing digital services to offer comparable terms, we fear that the free trial aspect, far from moving the industry away from freemium services — a model we support — is only resulting in taking the “mium” out of freemium,” a statement on the label’s website read.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon also recently spoke-out against Apple. He retweeted a FACT article titled “Indie labels advised against signing with Apple Music amid fears of revenue ‘black hole'” and then went on to screenshot another FACT article “Is Apple Music proof that the company has stopped innovating?” and wrote, “don’t need to read this. its true.”

Read Anton Newcombe’s tweets below.

UPDATE 22/06/15: Apple has agreed to pay royalties during Apple Music’s three-month free trial period, with an Apple executive directly addressing Taylor Swift and other artists who disagreed with its original plans.

Watch: The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Let’s Go Fucking Mental