Steve Angello Defends Streaming Services

Producer and former Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello has a theory about why artists shun certain streaming services when it’s time to release an album. “It’s publicity,” he said this week at the Web Summit in Dublin adding that “a lot of people talk about it.” He implied that avoiding streaming services create some extra advertising and it would cost artists nothing.

Without referring to famous critics like Taylor Swift and Prince, Angello said it was shortsighted of artists to pick one streaming service over another. According to Cnet, he said: “I see it as record stores — why would I not allow a record store to release it?” pinpointing the fact that “A 15-year-old might not to be able to afford Apple, Spotify, Tidal and Google. Why would you limit those guys from hearing your music?”

The owner and founder of Size Records, highlighted that “every streaming service does pay and that artists should go back and talk to their record labels” if they’re not seeing adequate compensation. “For me it’s different,” he said. “I’ve always owned all my masters so I get 100 percent.”

But he might as well be talking directly to singer and harpist Joanna Newsom, who last month called Spotify a “villainous cabal of major labels” that was “built from the ground up” to help labels skimp on paying artists. Spotify answers it pays out 70 percent of its gross revenue to rights holders, including labels, publishers and direct payments to independent artists. An artist’s share of that money could depend on what kind of record or publishing deal they have in place.

Finally, Angello also said at the conference: “Downloading and streaming is the evolution of music services and a lot of people are fighting it, but I think it’s the best thing that ever happened.”