U2‘s manager Paul McGuinness has said online music streaming services ‘should be encouraged’, but also admitted artists are yet to be convinced by the medium as they do not foresee any financial benefits.
Earlier this month, Coldplay‘s manager Dave Holmes told Music Week he is ‘very concerned’ by platforms such as Spotify, as they ‘compete with download stores’. However, McGuinness has claimed streaming sites can be a viable part of the future of the music industry, and therefore should be encouraged.
“Spotify has yet to become popular with artists because artists don’t see the financial benefit,” he told Billboard. “That’s partly the fault of the labels because labels partly-own Spotify, and there is insufficient transparency.”
“There’s no reason why the basic Spotify model can’t be a part of the future. It is essentially honest so it should be encouraged. I would like to see it adopted everywhere.”
Just last week, Spotify released figures which showed they now have 3 million paying subscribers to their service, accounting for 20% of its total usage.