Fred Coury is now among the artists who hate Spotify.
The music journalist Mitch Lafon shared the Cinderella drummer’s recent comments about the platform on X. Coury was seen responding to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s explanation. The drummer referred to Spotify as the biggest threat in the music industry today:
“If you use Spotify, you’re part of the problem. Period. Until Ek matches the rest, he’s the biggest threat to our craft there is. You can discover new music on all streamers. And forget about ‘physical product.’ That’s never coming back. A subscriber is a subscriber.”
What Did Daniel Ek Say?
Mitch Lafon also shared Daniel Ek’s comments about artists and content creation a few days ago. Ek claimed that the cost of creating content was zero so people should be creating more than they are now:
“Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content. This has sparked my curiosity about the concept of long shelf life versus short shelf life. While much of what we see and hear quickly becomes obsolete, there are timeless ideas or even pieces of music that can remain relevant for decades or even centuries. For example, we’re witnessing a resurgence of Stoicism, with many of Marcus Aurelius’s insights still resonating thousands of years later. This makes me wonder: what are the most unintuitive, yet enduring ideas that aren’t frequently discussed today but might have a long shelf life? Also, what are we creating now that will still be valued and discussed hundreds or thousands of years from today?”
This explanation got criticism both from music fans and many other rockers. So, Ek decided to share one more statement in response to his first one to clarify his words. He wrote:
“Obviously seeing the feedback to this one and wanted to respond. It’s clear I was far too vague in the post, including with my clumsy definition of content. I understand how it came across as very reductive and that wasn’t my intent. Just to clarify – my original point was not to devalue the time, effort, or resources involved in creating meaningful works, whether it’s music, literature, or other forms of creative expression.”
Ek also mentioned that the ability to produce new forms of art has decreased due to a few reasons:
“What I was most interested in exploring was how, in this environment of constant creation, we can identify and ensure that the bold, exciting, world-changing ideas and pieces of art don’t get lost in the noise. The significant drop in the cost of creation tools (microphones, laptops, cameras) has led to an unprecedented explosion in the volume of what people are able to produce. Creation is only part of the equation. My focus was on exploring the staying power of the most creative, most thought-provoking ideas. That didn’t come across, and that’s on me.
Artists Are Slamming Spotify
Some rock and metal musicians are leaving Spotify and removing their music from the platform. But removing their music simply wasn’t enough. Names such as Stryper’s Michael Sweet and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider both slammed the CEO for exploiting artists.
Sweet didn’t hold back on Spotify’s subscription price hike in the US and said:
“Taking more from you yet still giving pennies to the bands that created the music.”
He previously slammed Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s idea that artists should produce more music in the streaming era. Ek argued that artists need to stay engaged with fans by dropping music regularly, not every few years. The frontman disagreed, saying:
“I think artists should do whatever they feel led to do. And if that’s every year or if that’s every 10 years, it’s not his place to tell artists what to do. And, unfortunately, he’s in a position right now where he’s captaining the ship. Spotify is pretty much the leading way for music to be heard and be streamed, and artists, as you know, make very little money from all the streaming.”
Similarly, Snider took aim at Ek and suggested he deserved harsh consequences for his treatment of musicians. The singer mentioned the financial struggles musicians are facing and said:
“That guy from Spotify. I wanna tell you, he should be taken out and shot. When he heard that artists were complaining about how little we get paid, his response was ‘make more music’ — like we’re producing cans of Coke. Just [increase] the production. [It’s] insulting and belittling.”
Ek hasn’t responded to Coury’s words yet.