⁠"Autoplay and playlisting has ruined the music industry"—Internet divided as Björk slams Spotify streaming

Björk sat down for an interview with Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter in a bid to promote her new Apple TV+ concert film, Cornucopia. During the segment, she made some heated claims about Spotify being the worst thing to happen to the music industry.

According to Björk, Spotify has ruined the way younger musicians raise income as they are forced to rely on touring because of live streaming. Her claims have since drawn the ire of the internet on one hand and have the rest of the internet agreeing with her on the other. Check out what this one user had to say, for example:

"but she’s right…autoplay and playlisting has ruined the music industry."

Some other users also shared their opinion about this,

"okay so remove her music from Spotify & let’s see if she will still be singing that tune when the income slows down," one user suggested.

"talking to apple music, a streaming service about how awful another streaming service is. it’s giving paid slander," another claimed.

"Her streams reflect the songs she released physically that sold well - I don’t see what her problem is. If she embraced her back catalogue & sang the songs people want to hear rather than force feeding everyone “my new album” perhaps she would entice more people to stream her," someone else stated.

"she’s so right, streaming culture has made people think artists like taylor are icons and legends when they’re mid at best," another added.

The responses only got more divided on Björk's opinions from there:

"She’s mad because nobody is streaming her," someone suggested.

"she’s right but artists like taylor, nicki, drake, (not beyoncé) ariana and more thrived before and without the streaming era. so i understand her point," another concurred.

"things changes, things evolved, just because it used to be different doesn't mean its bad, even if its easier to get streams and stuff there is much more competition, imo its arder to break out and be good than before," one more opined.

"Streaming had positives but some big negatives too. It's definitely made it MUCH easier for record companies to game the system. But it also levels the playing field somewhat and gives voice to people who don't have a huge promo machine backing them. But it also inflates stats," yet another echoed.

Scores online concurred with Björk and had a lot of good things to say about streaming services like Spotify, though a good number of people also stated that it has taken a toll on the music industry.

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Björk gives her two cents on why Spotify may be the worst thing to come out in recent years: Read more

Speaking with Dagens Nyheter, Björk said:

“The live part is, and always will be, a big part of what I do. I’m lucky because I no longer have to raise money on touring, which younger musicians are often forced to do. The streaming culture has changed an entire society and an entire generation of artists.”

She went on, expressing gratitude for being able to grow up in a streaming-free era:

"For the seed to grow into a healthy and vigorous plant, you need privacy. You need a few years of no one knowing what you are doing, not even yourself.”

As for how she feels about touring, here's what she said:

“Right now I’m more busy getting out all the ideas I have inside me. I feel far from finished, and time is running out. What if I had to make 20 more albums? Given my pace, I’ll probably make five at best before I die,” she explained.

Notably, Björk's feelings about the streaming culture being a bane in the music industry date back to 2015, when she spoke with the revelation that she wouldn't be releasing her album Vulnicura out of "respect" for principles.

“It just seems insane,” she said at the time. “To work on something for two or three years and then just, ‘Oh, here it is for free’. It’s not about the money; it’s about respect. Respect for the craft and the amount of work you put into it.”

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According to Variety, Björk likely meant that while the streaming economy has helped the music industry thrive, it has also led to illegal downloading. This rips off the artists and all those who hold rights to the tracks, like labels and music publishers. Furthermore, artists would also get a fraction of what they would if they were to sell tangible products like vinyl and CDs.