The Black Keys haven't released a new record since Turn Blue in 2014, but fans of the band can now kill the wait time for the next album by streaming the duo's older stuff on Spotify.
Drummer Patrick Carney announced the group's decision to make their music available on Spotify this morning (December 19) via Twitter, stating that he was still "apprehensive," but that he would "rather people hear our music than not."
Over the last few years, Carney has been a vocal opponent of streaming services, deeming Napster founder and now Spotify board member Sean 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," Carney said in 2012. "You can't really trust anybody like that. The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I'm totally not against it. It's just we won't put all of our music on it until there are enough subscribers for it to make sense."
He continued: "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. 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."
That said, when U2 struck a deal with Apple to release Songs of Innocence in 2014, Carney was still pissed.
The Black Keys' two most recent albums, Turn Blue and El Camino, have still yet to appear on Spotify, though a message from the streaming service reads: "We're working on it and hope to have them soon."
Find the rest of the band's back catalogue over here.
Drummer Patrick Carney announced the group's decision to make their music available on Spotify this morning (December 19) via Twitter, stating that he was still "apprehensive," but that he would "rather people hear our music than not."
After five years of struggling with this we agreed to put the keys songs on Spotify. I'd rather people hear our music than not.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) December 19, 2016
No advance or money was exchanged. I'm still an advocate for artists to be paid fairly. I'm still apprehensive.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) December 19, 2016
Over the last few years, Carney has been a vocal opponent of streaming services, deeming Napster founder and now Spotify board member Sean 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," Carney said in 2012. "You can't really trust anybody like that. The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I'm totally not against it. It's just we won't put all of our music on it until there are enough subscribers for it to make sense."
He continued: "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. 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."
That said, when U2 struck a deal with Apple to release Songs of Innocence in 2014, Carney was still pissed.
The Black Keys' two most recent albums, Turn Blue and El Camino, have still yet to appear on Spotify, though a message from the streaming service reads: "We're working on it and hope to have them soon."
Find the rest of the band's back catalogue over here.
