Warner Moves To Stop Free Streaming
Record label to stop licensing its music for the net
Record label Warner Music has decided to licensing its songs to free streaming services on the internet.
The move could see big acts such as REM, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dio, Rush, Dire Straits and many more pulled from websites such as Spotify, We7 and Last.FM, although it’s not known if Warner’s current position only refers to new licensing deals or existing ones as well.
Currently Spotify has seven million users in Europe with 95% of those signing up for the free service, while 2.5m use We7's free streaming service.
Warner chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr told the BBC: "Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as Warner Music is concerned will not be licensed.
"The 'get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price' strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future."
In a similar move last year Warner Music pulled all of its artist videos from YouTube after complaining that they weren’t being paid enough.