The frontman of a group described as Scotland's best band ever has hit
out at the generation who no longer pay for music.
Stuart Murdoch, the Ayrshire-born lead singer of Belle and Sebastian,
said sales have dropped so low they no longer finance the recording of
new material.
His attack was backed by two other top Scots musicians – Alex Kapranos
from Franz Ferdinand and Adele Bethel from Sons of Daughters.
The broadside came as Spotify– a controversial online music library
that offers free music subsided by advertising – cut back on what it
gives users free.
People who do not pay a fee will be allowed to listen to a song only
five times every month, in a gesture to pacify furious record labels.
Spotify has previously been attacked for failing to give musicians
enough cash for their songs.
Using Twitter, the Belle and Sebastian song-writer wrote: "On Spotify
graciously deciding to charge its free listeners – are you going to
pay the bands that make the music in the first place?"
Murdoch warned he could not record new music if sales didn't pick up,
adding: "We'd like to make more songs and used to do that with the
money we made from selling songs."
Belle and Sebastian were named Scotland's number band in a poll
conducted by The List Magazine in 2005.
Singer Kapranos, backed Murdoch, saying: "Spotify exists for moral
hypocrites – those who are too cowardly to steal music, yet too cheap
to pay for it – the kind of person who'd never consider nicking a bag
of crisps from a newsagent or siphoning neighbours' petrol, but who
still expects to lift the music that brings them joy for nothing.
"Either be honest and be a thief in all areas of your life or decide
you don't steal.
"Most people don't want to pay for their music, therefore don't pay
for new music to be made, which is fair enough. But they can't expect
to hear anything other that tunes recorded on a laptop in a bedroom."
Adele Bethel, lead singer with Sons and Daughters, said: "I agree with
Stuart Murdoch on this and am glad he's spoken out about it. The
percentage given to artists is so minuscule.
"If you don't pay for music, it will die out."
Spotify said it hopes to become a way of musicians to earn more money
for their songs and that by offering free music, it encourages kids to
stay away from illegal pirate music.
Jim Butcher, spokesman for Spotify, said: "We're still young and as we
continue to grow, the money we pay back to the industry will grow with
us. "And remember we're monetising a youth demographic, many of whom
might otherwise be downloading illegally and not paying a penny back
to the industry."
Spotify is a legal way of listening to free music. It pays record
labels a fee every time someone listens to a song. Last year it paid
out almost £40million in royalties.
Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks said: "We've shown that the
model is doing extremely well, but as things stand we need to tweak
the service to ensure everyone has access to legal music in the long
term."