It is true... But I won't stop using it. It is such a massive and impressive resource for any music fan who doesn't have the money to go out and buy every single record by every single band you've ever wanted to listen to.

I've also never used Spotify.

If the artists aren't getting paid, then what's the difference between Spotify and illegal downloads? Simple answer, nothing.

Major artists still get paid. The point they're trying to make is that younger artists don't get paid. Is it wrong? Yeah. But they're kidding themselves by saying it doesn't offer a good amount of exposure. If it isn't Spotify its legally streaming on sites like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or Youtube.

There isn't anything wrong with using Spotify to find a band you like and then going to their gig, buying their album, etc. The problem isn't entirely Spotify, its the entire mindset that it (along with so many other streaming services and websites) promotes. The mindset that music isn't worth as much as it used to be. That it isn't worth the cost that musicians pay to make it. The same mindset that Radiohead promoted by giving away In Rainbows.

I love Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood is one of the greatest musicians to step foot on this planet, but Thom comes off as hypocritical at times. I know he means well, but sometimes it comes off as a lot of hot air. I honestly don't see how a multimillionaire taking down some of his music from Spotify will do anything. Good for his own soul, maybe, but I would like for him to go up to a small, unknown band and tell them to take down all their music. It must be easy for him because he has all the money and attention he could possibly want.

That being said... Radiohead: one of the best bands on the planet. Thom: Generally seems like a nice guy with his heart in the right place, but the hero worship around him is sickening.

I wasn't talking about you or anyone in this thread, but just out of personal experience. And not worked up at all, just have an overly wordy opinion on the topic. Its nice to talk about something other than speculation on Noel's new album or Beady Eye record sales.

No worries man, haha. I suppose I wrote too much, I just find the topic fascinating as its probably one of the most important topics of the music industry my generation is growing into. I actually had a friend who interned at a company that makes sure band/musicians get fair compensation from their Youtube views. Funnily enough, he mentioned potentially getting Radiohead as a client! Not sure if anything came out of that though.

I recently signed up for the $25 iTunes Match and am using the new Radio feature in the iOS 7 beta on my iPad Mini. I think if any artist will benefit, it will be from Apple's royalties because they don't price cheap to begin with and it's all about being profitable. Hence they got busted for the e-book scheme just now.

I rarely use Spotify anymore, but did for awhile. I stopped using it because I found that buying my music came out cheaper. But I still want the streaming aspect, hence I use iTunes Match. Can still be cheap and buy my music elsewhere and import it though. Artists still get money, that's how Apple is making artists their money with piracy, lol.

We're still in the generation where people pirate a lot, but I think that scene is going to be really different in the next five years, and more and more of the little kids now will be using Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, etc. when they're older so it's going to be a lot more profitable.

A lot of these "little artists" give their music away on Bandcamp and their websites. I don't get it? Pay $0 or a small amount of your choosing and get a MP3 VBR, 320 kbps, or FLAC. And they complain because streaming sites aren't paying?

Your first point in the same kind of thing that leads to 'interns', where its all about' hey, write for us/do this job, you don't get paid but it's exposure. bollocks to all that, it's capitalist exploitation is what it is. And anyone foolish enough to do it deserves it, only it leads to a situation where kids from rich do it and those that acutally need to earn some money get frozen out.

Same with music. Your are wrong about "it's never been about the money" ALL successful bands want money, fame, sex, drugs, the whole lot. It's actually even worse now with 'brit school' type things all over the UK that give as much emphasis to the business side as they do the creative.

Radio DIOES pay great, at least in the UK and certain other markets such as Germany. Getting paid by the BBC for radio play has been a way that writers and performers have fianced themselves for years.

Spotify is a scam and it is in essence no different from so called 'illegal downloading'.

Your point about Radiohead's materail still being on there and using it as a slag off is also wrong. Obviously the stuff that has been removed is within their pwoer to do so, the Radiohead materail will be 'owned' by a major and Yorke will have no say on how it is distributed or exploited.

I wonder how long the Spotify model will work. It'll be interesting to see if they can last or eventually get pulled down and boycotted like Napster. Seems distant and highly unlikely but with such big names of the music industry unhappy with their business model I'm quite sure we'll eventually see a few more musicians airing their grievances about Spotify in the not so distant future. Should be interesting how things pan out.

Haha, just found this out after doing some research. Guess who is on the board of Spotify?

Sean Parker, the creator of Napster..that's who! And so the plot thickens.

Some other artists speaking out against Spotify...

Patrick Carney of the Black Keys said that "Spotify isn't fair to artists" and that for "a band that makes a living selling music, streaming services are not a 'feasible' option." He called Spotify board member Sean Parker an "asshole" in reply to his claim that Spotify would make more money for the music industry than iTunes. "That guy has $2 billion that he made from figuring out ways to steal royalties from artists, and that’s the bottom line. You can’t really trust anybody like that."

As somebody whose band is streamed on Spotify I can tell you that it pays .0003 cents USD per stream. Just fyi. That's straight from our financial guys.