The Twisted Sister singer chooses drastic words to criticize the streaming service giant.
It is well known that Spotify does not pay artists fairly and has therefore been criticized for years. Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider complained about the Swedish company’s poor pay – which was extremely harsh to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
“Licensing is the last resort”
Speaking on “The Jeremy White Show,” Snider admitted that he and his colleagues are deeply affected by the streaming service’s low payments. “Spotify, the wholesale format where you pay a monthly fee… we get so, so little. And the guy from Spotify, he should be taken out and shot,” were the singer’s controversial words. “When he heard artists complaining about low pay, his response was ‘make more music,'” Snider continued. How serious he is about his “call for murder” and whether it was just an angry, thoughtless comment is unclear.
Billionaire and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is an attractive figure for many musicians. In 2020, he said that “some artists who were successful in the past may not be successful in the future, because you can no longer record a new album every three to four years and think that that’s enough.” “
“‘Make more music.’ This is insulting and condescending,” Snider argued, while emphasizing the only way he sees artists making a living. “Licensing is the last resort, the last haven where you can actually make some money,” he insisted. Snider underlines the ongoing debate about the fairness of paying artists in the age of digital music streaming.
How little does Spotify pay for art?
Spotify recently announced a minimum number of streams that will soon be required for royalties. From the beginning of 2024, new guidelines will apply at Spotify: A piece must be streamed at least 1,000 times per year to receive compensation. This change allows Spotify to invest more specifically in songs that are more popular with listeners. This change will make it even more difficult for small, unknown musicians in particular to earn something from their music. Estimates suggest that Spotify pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream.
Dee Snider isn’t the first to publicly complain about Spotify. Artists like Neil Young are boycotting the streaming provider. The songs of the “Heart of Gold” artist cannot be found on the platform. The boycott is probably also related to the unfair pay of musicians, but Young also regularly criticizes the poor sound of streamed songs.