Friday, November 6, 2015

LARRY MULLEN CALLS FOR APPLE & SPOTIFY TO PAY ARTISTS MORE



Tune in to Larry Gogan's 2fm show from 1pm tomorrow (Saturday November 7) for the latest 'Larry meets Larry', as the veteran broadcaster renews his friendship with U2 timekeeper Larry Mullen, Jr. behind the scenes at London's O2 Arena.

This time around, the drummer talks about the difficulties of staging the new show in their home town; the band’s relevance in the ever-changing music scene; his current favourite acts; and what Dublin audiences can expect later this month.

He also pulls no punches when giving his opinion on the current state of the music industry, singling out companies such as Spotify and Apple to highlight how he believes that artists are not being sufficiently compensated for their work by large corporations.

Larry Mullen tells 2fm:

 "I think [the music industry] is broken. A lot of younger artists don’t get paid, and that’s a real problem. We’re kind of out of that scenario, but we would like to see artists get paid.  Companies like Spotify, the new Apple service and all the others are really going to have to pay artists more. It’s only a matter of time. I think a lot of these companies and individuals who are involved in them realise that as well. They know that artists are not getting what they should be getting." 


Update:


Larry Mullen has spoken about the difficulties of the music industry targetting streaming services in particular.

Speaking with Irish radio station RTE 2FM ahead of the Innocence and Experience tour coming to its conclusion in the band's hometown of Dublin, Mullen said:

"I think it [the music industry] is broken. A lot of younger artists don’t get paid, and that’s a real problem. We’re kind of out of that scenario, but we would like to see artists get paid."

"Companies like Spotify, the new Apple service and all the others are really going to have to pay artists more. It’s only a matter of time. I think a lot of these companies and individuals who are involved in them realise that as well. They know that artists are not getting what they should be getting,"



U2 had difficulty adding Dublin and Belfast dates to the end of their current tour, in part because of the sophisticated stage set up, which needed to be adapted to suit the venues.

The band have been outspoken on Europe's acceptance of Syrian refugees during the tour, with Bono talking about the issue on several dates.

In Italy, after Germany announced its extensive plans, Bono said:

We might truly be at a turning point for what Europe wants to be in the 21st century... This week, something incredible happened, and Europe isn't the same as it was seven days ago."

He also said that pictures of German children offering their toys to Syrian refugees "will remain in the history of Europe" and labelled German Chancellor Angela Merkel as "a moral symbol for Europe".

U2 finished the 'mainland' UK leg of their tour in Glasgow last night, and head to Paris next, before wrapping up in Belfast and Dublin.


http://www.nme.com/

No comments: