Spotify CEO Daniel Ek isn't exactly the most popular guy in the music world. Before the massive outcry over terrible royalties, Ek made headlines for saying in an interview with Music Ally that "you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that's going to be enough." He added that "artists today that are making it realise that it's about creating a continuous engagement with their fans." Or in other words, music should be an endless stream of content to boost engagement and keep folks like Ek afloat.
In an interview with The Jeremy White Show, Twisted Sister frontman and solo artist Dee Snider had some choice words for Ek and his philosophy on how music should be created and put out into the world.
"That guy from Spotify [in reference to Ek]," said Snider. "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."
Snider then touched on how he's still making money outside the world of streaming: "For me, it's licensing. The licensing is the last godsend, the last oasis where you can actually make some money. Steven Spielberg chooses 'We're Not Gonna Take It' for the finale of Ready Player One. Thank you, God, 'cause I'm not getting anything from Spotify."
Spotify recently came under fire (again) when they announced they're requiring every song on the platform to get at least 1,000 plays yearly in order to be eligible for royalties. The threshold was confirmed by Music Business Worldwide, who have shared that "1,000 streams will indeed be the minimum yearly play-count volume that each track on the service has to hit in order to start generating royalties from Q1 2024."
