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Björk admits concerns to putting new material on freemium

By | Published on Friday 27 February 2015

Björk

All the big artists know it, how do you get people talking about your new record these days? Keep it off Spotify, that’s how. Then put out a quote questioning the role of the streaming platforms and boom, just watch those headlines roll.

So well done Björk, whose rush released new album ‘Vulnicura’ is yet to make it to the streaming services. But why? Well, she told Fast Company: “We’re all making it up as it goes, to be honest. I would like to say there’s some master plan going on, but there isn’t. But a few months ago I emailed my manager and said, ‘Guess what? This streaming thing just does not feel right. I don’t know why, but it just seems insane'”.

Following the Taylor Swift route in explaining that it’s not streaming but freemium streaming that is the bother, Björk continues: “To work on something for two or three years and then just, ‘Oh, here it is for free’. It’s not about the money; it’s about respect, you know? Respect for the craft and the amount of work you put into it”.

We should note that, unlike Swift, who pulled her whole catalogue from those streaming services with a compulsory (for the artists) freemium level, like Spotify, it is only the new Björk album that isn’t yet available on the key streaming platforms.

And while that’s annoying for Spotify and Spotify-using Björk fans, it’s good news for everyone who enjoys nothing more than an “urgh, argh, woah, what’s the future of freemium in music?” debate on a Friday lunchtime. Here’s one I made earlier.



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