Yorke Speaks Out Against YouTube

The global tech giants’ battle to lure consumers to their streaming services may drive down prices, but it could also sweep away indie labels and niche artists, according to The Sunday Times.

Photo: AP Photo

Optimus Alive! Festival, Passeio Maritimo De Alges, Lisbon, Portugal

Under a headline that said “Google’s jukebox battle with the bands,” the weekend paper’s business section analyzed the ongoing battle between Google and the global indie music community.

It included Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke complaining about the peppercorn rates and saying that Apple and Google “have to keep commodifying things to keep the share price up.”

“By doing so they have made all content useless in order to make their billions,” he said.

The paper also quoted Mercury Music Prize-nominated electronic artist John Hopkins: “Just got paid £8 for 90,000 plays. Fuck Spotify,” he said.

Google-owned YouTube has begun carrying out its threat to block the content of companies that don’t sign up to its new streaming service on what some are calling “highly unfavourable terms.”

On June 23 European indies association IMPALA lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the way YouTube’s playing hardball with its artists. “The question we want the EC to look at is whether YouTube has abused its dominant position. We believe that it is in danger of doing so,” said IMPALA executive chair Helen Smith. “Under competition rules, gatekeepers like YouTube are not allowed to do whatever they like.”