U2 Manager Slams Google & Spotify
"Artists don't see the financial benefit of working with Spotify," says Paul McGuinness
Speaking at MIDEM, an annual music trade fair held at Cannes in France, Mr McGuinness said: "Never underestimate the ability of a monopoly to defend itself."
He attacked Google's policy of including pirate sites in its search results.
"It amazes me that Google has not done the right thing. The experience of people when they go on Google and look for U2 music, or PJ Harvey music, is a shopping list of illegal opportunities to get their music. They have done nothing meaningful to discourage it," said Mr Guinness.
And he addressed the growth of Spotify as a medium for fans to listen to music, saying that U2 are more likely to use traditional radio than Spotify to promote their next album.
"At the moment I'm inclined to treat it (Spotify) as a promotional medium. If we have to choose where to put records on their debut we're unlikely to give it to Spotify.
"We have arrangements like that around the world with people we've worked with over the years. Spotify has yet to become popular with artists because artists don't see the financial benefit of working with Spotify."