Warner Withdraws from Streaming Services: Muse Speak Out Against It

Warner Music recently announced their decision to stop licensing their artists' tracks to free streaming services such as Spotify. One of Warner's biggest-selling artists, Muse, is speaking out against this decision. Bassist Chris Wolstenhome of Muse expressed his disdain for the idea by saying, "It's like taking your song off the radio isn't it? You're instantly taking your song away from a group of potential listeners." He also went on to explain that these kinds of initiatives are being made by big corporations, not the bands themselves. He further elaborates, "As far as bands are concerned you just want people to hear your music whichever way they can."

Unfortunately for Muse, Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman says these free streaming services are "clearly not net positive for the industry" and "not the kind of approach to business we will be supporting in the future."

I agree with Muse's Chris Wolstenhome's statement that taking music off of free streaming sites is exactly like taking it off of the radio and worst of all, keeping it away from a potential fanbase. As we've been reading about, so many underground bands only became huge because of fans accessing their music for free over the Internet. By taking the music off of streaming sites, this kind of exposure will be greatly limited. I also don't see the point because honestly, right now I could probably find any Muse song on YouTube within 2 minutes if I wanted to so what's the difference? I thought the record labels might have learned by now that the best way to compete with free was to just go along with it but apparently that's not the case.

- Samantha Bruno

Source:

http://www.spinner.com/2010/02/24/muse-speak-out-against-warner-withdrawal-from-streaming-services/