Johnny Marr: Spotify ‘entirely hampers new bands’

Johnny Marr has joined in the debate on Spotify, saying it ‘entirely hampers new bands’ and that he ‘can’t think of anything more opposite to punk rock’.

Marr positioned himself firmly on the opposition benches along side the likes of Thom Yorke and David Byrne during a chat with NME.

“It’s been a strange time for music in general,” he said. “Especially with the debate about Spotify. I’m not a supporter. I think it entirely hampers new bands, and the situation that Thom Yorke and Beck have been criticizing makes the old record companies of the ’70s look like cottage industries. I can’t think of anything more opposite to punk rock than Spotify.”

“I have no answer to the economic side of the modern music industry, but I do think we certainly shouldn’t stop valuing what bands do. I don’t like great things being throwaway. Pop culture isn’t just about ‘the music, man’. It’s a way of life, an aesthetic, and it’s not just about pressing a button and getting something entirely for convenience.”

As Spotify looks all set to expand its influence still further next year, the debate surrounding its impact on new bands has been raging, especially since Thom Yorke and Atoms For Peace decided to withdraw their music from the service back in July.