The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney: You “Can’t Really Trust” Spotify

When thinking of bands that like a good squabble, The Black Keys might not instantly spring to mind - but drummer Patrick Carney got pretty vocal on US Radio station WGRD in response to comments Spotify investor and board member Sean Parker made at recent industry conference and music festival SXSW in Austin earlier this month.

Entering into the current topical discussion around Spotify’s effect on musicians and the industry, Carney told WGRD: ‘He’s 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. You can’t really trust anybody like that.’

Carney did add that The Black Keys were all for fair treatment from streaming software: ‘The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I’m totally not against it… Trust me, Dan [Auerbach, frontman] 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.’

With Spotify plays set to be included in American chart listings, and extra limitations now in place to limit non-premium listeners’ streaming time, the Spotify debate continues.