Veteran Crooner James Taylor Has Weighed In On The Ongoing Debate About Artist Royalties From Music Streaming Services, Insisting Musicians Deserve To Receive 50 Per Cent Of Profits Made From Songs They Created.
The Fire and Rain hitmaker, 67, insists he has no problem with the booming digital industry, but he is adamant bosses behind services like Spotify and Pandora owe it to the artists to make sure they are properly compensated.
He tells The Associated Press, "If someone's going to be making money off of my recorded music, I think that I should be getting half of that money that they're making because I'm the one who generated the product.
"What I'd like to see about Spotify is how much money is the company making relative to what the artist is making? For every dollar they take in, they should be giving 50 cents to the people who actually recorded the music."
The singer's comments emerge after Taylor Swift, who was named after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star, revealed she would be withholding her latest album, 1989, from Apple's forthcoming Apple Music service because she is unhappy with their plans to offer users a free three-month introductory trial, during which artists will reportedly receive no compensation for the use of their tunes.
In an open letter posted on her Tumblr.com blog this weekend (20-21Jun15), she insists, "It is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing."