The Black Keys Call Napster, Spotify’s Sean Parker ‘Asshole’ Who ‘Stole $2 Billion’ From Artists
(UPDATED) During an interview on radio station WGRD in GrandRapids, Michigan, outspoken Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney took aim at streaming music and Napster co-founder Sean Parker. Parker also sits on Spotify's boad of directors. "…He’s [Parker] an asshole." said Carney. "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," continued Carney. "The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I’m totally not against it. It’s just we won’t put all of our music on it until there are enough subscribers for it to make sense."
“Trust me, Dan and I like to make money. If it was fair to the artist we would be involved in it," concluded Carney. "I honestly don’t want to see Sean Parker succeed in anything. I imagine if Spotify becomes something that people are willing to pay for, then I’m sure iTunes will just create their own service, and they’re actually fair to artists.”
Listen to the full interview here.
Patrick Carney is the drummer
Oh sure – somebody stole two billion from you. Wrong. They gave me a way to find out an album has only two good tracks on it before I wasted my money. Sorry, but your business model doesn’t exploit me any more.
How would a streamingservice gain enough subscribers if the artists wont put music on it? Its their choice but its very selfish
Well I feel like major labels have screwed over artists for way more money over the years, and yet Black Keys are signed to Warner. He doens´t have anything bad to say about them though…
Bingo.
Has he not heard of iTunes Match? Also he’s acting like Sean Parker created Spotify. This is just humorous.
Sean Parker’s $2 Billion comes from Facebook, not from Napster.So he’s completely wrong.
The Black Keys success was made on the backs of file sharing software pioneered by Napster and word of mouth, and now they act like major label fucktards who think they deserve more. Every time they open their mouths I laugh, the indie-rock poster children have grown up to become the asshole mega-successful mogul their kin despises.
If their not on Spotify, then their music is being pirated. Dumb asses.
Sean Parker is a total jerk off who never had any intent to pay artists with Napster, so screw him, and the horse’s ass he rode in on.
Everything that has publicly come out of Patrick Carney’s mouth since their latest album was released has been utter nonsense.
This doesn’t even make sense and this is why no one takes these artists seriously. Until artists realize that Spotify is losing millions of dollars in paying royalties and fees and that they are not getting rich, their comments are a joke at best. Sean Parker isn’t the founder of Spotify and his personal history is irrelevant.
Further more, Spotify pays not only per-play fees, but also performance and mechanical fees. These do add up. You just have to write your songs and get a fair publisher. If you don’t, you don’t get paid as much.
Spotify can’t be pro-artist if you hold music from them and and get mad at them for being stuck in unfair contracts setup by the majors. Spotify is not at fault here, they are just trying to get their business off the ground.
Can’t understand how people defend or rationalize music stealing, file sharing and downloading…
Sean Parker made his initial money from Napster and played an integral role; he’s now doing a similar move with Spotify, a service that pays very small royalties for artists’ songs that are broadcast to subscribers. The rationale that he’s at least paying something for a song’s use should not guaranty Spotify the artists’ support. It still needs to be FAIR and capable of allowing new artists to be rewarded, so that they can survive and prosper.
The music industry is dying. Do you just want to celebrate American Idol and reality covers? How can quality new artists break through today and survive?
If Spotify is the FUTURE as Parker claims, it needs to be a better partnership and more rewarding for the creators. Greater incentives are needed to keep talent focused on their craft.
He has a point, but the way he delivers his message makes him seem like the asshole he is describing in Sean Parker. Two peas in a pod if you ask me. I seriously hope this guy is a songwriter in the Black Keys because if he’s just a drummer in the band LOL@THAT. I can’t stand people who rip on other people for not doing things the “right” way. I guarantee if I had enough time I could find ways how The Black Keys or people The Black Keys are associated with steal, cheat, and rip people off… OH WAIT THE BLACK KEYS ARE ON ASCAP AND ASCAP RIPS OFF MILLIONS FROM ARTISTS… Nobody even store your music on Napster.. Now a company that you represents steals money from artists and you have nothing to say?????
**should have been stole not store**
I think we just about worked that one out!
Let me get that straight:
twitter.com/socialtechno thinks that a ‘service’ which brings home a fortune by selling other people’s work without compensating them, is cool?
“.. They gave me a way to find out an album has only two good tracks on it before I wasted my money. Sorry, but your business model doesn’t exploit me any more. ”
Not the artist who doesn’t get compensated while the snide pirate get fat?
What does that tell me about twitter.com/socialtechno?
It tells me he’s an antisocial jerk, who thinks leeching on others is cool. Who thinks he deserves to get everything he wants for free. And who justifies it by saying he’s exploited by artists!?
In psychology, that’s called ‘a projection’.
So many like him though, immature self serving people with no regard for the artist whoes work they happily enjoy.
Great case on the psychology and not least the hipocracy of a pirate:
Try ‘stealing’ a pirates hack, oh my, that wouldn’t make our pirate too happy, would it now? Nope, they’re very finicky about that. Ironic, isn’t it?
Oh, and fwiw, Spotify is not legit, buyers beware. They do not compensate artists, beyond an absurdly small symbolic amount.
Spotify would need over four million streams per month to earn US$1,160, see http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online/
The truth is, Spotify et. al. make iTunes look like a boon for an artist, and that alone says a lot!
I think maybe I should sue all the CD manufacturers, CD player manufacturers, car manufacturers who put cd player in their cars that didn’t have a good suspension, etc..
The result is sometimes a scratched CD. How many times should I have to pay to hear one song on an album that is crap? Being a musician/star is not JUST about album sales! You get the money via Advertising, contracts, concerts, etc…
It’s really a service( feeling the music) that people are paying for!