Author: Michael Pementel
In a recent interview with Classic Rock, metal legend Ozzy Osbourne was asked his opinion about streaming services and it appears he is not a fan.
Among the topics brought up in this interview, Ozzy speaks to Ozzfest, his most recent studio album Ordinary Man, his favorite memory from the last Black Sabbath tour, and lots more.
At one point he is asked his thoughts on streaming services and whether he thinks they are good or bad for rock music. Ozzy ends up mentioning Spotify by name and he uses some strong choice wording to describe the streaming platform. Per the interview, he shares the following.
Ozzy Osbourne talks Spotify
“Spotify is a fucking joke. The royalty aspect of making music has gone right down the toilet.”
Ozzy is also asked about how involved he gets using social media, to which he responds with the following:
“A little bit. I don’t trust it very much. Maybe because I’m an old-fashioned guy, but everything seems to be moving too fast now.”
Ozzy is not the first musician to be upset about royalties when it comes to streaming services like Spotify; however, there are several other musicians who think such platforms like Spotify have saved the music industry. Some of those artists involve that of Disturbed singer David Draiman, as well as that of Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows.
When talking about streaming, Shadows says at one point that, “Streaming kind of saved the industry, it saved the user.”
When Draiman spoke to the subject in the past, he said, “It took STREAMING to bring [the music industry] back to life. Streaming made the labels profitable again, made catalog artists regain a royalty stream, and made Piracy obsolete.”
What are your thoughts on streaming services and the royalties that get paid out to artists/bands?
Disturbed’s David Draiman Defends Spotify And Tells Artists, “Blame Yourselves”