Tom Keifer Explains Why New Album Isn’t On Spotify
Tom Keifer Explains Why New Album Isn’t On Spotify
July 30, 2013
Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer recently released his long-awaited solo album ‘The Way Life Goes’, but you won’t find it on the music streaming service Spotify.
Keifer explained why he is avoiding Spotify by saying, “I feel the fractional performance royalty is just one of the issues with the pillaging of our intellectual creations by an outlet such as Spotify. I hear a lot of emphasis placed on Spotify’s unfair royalties but not enough attention is being drawn to how this new business model threatens the development of new talent and possibly the art itself.
“The impact on sales by the new business model Spotify has created, redirects and decreases revenue that would normally flow back through the system at record and publishing companies to help fund and create an environment to develop new talent.
In a recent interview with Sleaze Roxx, Keifer stated, “I try not to think about trends or write for a particular audience when I write songs. I mean this album took 10 years to complete and in that time I can’t even begin to tell you how many trends have come and gone. In the time that it took to record this album there’s just no way you can target any kind of audience or tap into a particular trend. It’s always been more about the music — that music comes from somewhere, it comes from the music that I listen to. Again, I listen to all my old favorites but I also listen to a lot of new stuff too. I’m always trying to grow as a songwriter — this is a natural progression for me.”
Despite outlasting several trends, Keifer fears for the future of the music industry as a whole. “I was very fortunate that the start of my career was at a time when artists were compensated fairly for their music and record companies stayed with and were committed to developing their talents.Over the years, I have witnessed the impact of the “Give the music away” mentality that continues to drive our industry into the ground. Some argue the benefits of the exposure outweigh the negatives. In my opinion, that trade off, only makes way for and allows the outright piracy that has been so destructive.
“I made the decision to record and produce my current record independently of a label, with the idea being to shop a finished record. I couldn’t stand the thought of the music being compromised in any way by the state of artist development or the recording budgets of today. I was essentially right back in the shoes of being a new artist but it was a very different time. I experienced and know first hand many of the challenges of this new world that we are in. That experience, along with the unfair performance royalty, is why I made the decision to not allow “The Way Life Goes” on Spotify. I do not wish to contribute further to the damage being done to our industry.
“I have stood in two very different sets of shoes over my career that have given me the unique opportunity to witness the decline first hand. What saddens me most is the thought of what a young artist trying to make a start today is up against. We should all be thinking about what kind of environment we are creating for new up and coming artists and songwriters.
“The first round of piracy that hit the recording industry hard was illegal downloading,” concludes Keifer. “We were all caught off guard and didn’t have much of a choice on that one. Make no mistake, round two is models such as Spotify that are being created. We have a choice this time. We need to stop digging the hole. Recording artists, songwriters, record companies, music publishers and most importantly the lovers of music and true art, HAVE to draw the line so upcoming generations will continue to experience the gift that has been ours.”
Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com