Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) accuses Napster founder of stealing royalties
The Black Keys' aversion to digital streaming giant Spotify continues, with drummer Patrick Carney accusing Spotify board member/Napster founder Sean Parker of pocketing artist royalties. Via The Hollywood Reporter:
“'Because he’s [Parker] an asshole. 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,' Carney said in response to Parker's claims at SXSW that his company would generate more revenue for the music industry than iTunes in the next two years.
'Trust me, Dan and I like to make money. If it was fair to the artist we would be involved in it. I honestly don’t want to see Sean Parker succeed in anything,' added Carney. The verbal stab at Parker is not shocking coming from the Akron duo, who refused to put their new album El Camino on Spotify and other streaming services last year.
'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,' said the newly relocated Nashville local.”
What do you think? Much has been made of the small royalties that Spotify distributes to artists streaming their music through the service–does Carney have a point? Let us know in the comments.
