The Black Keys — and in particular drummer Patrick Carney — have been some of the most vocal opponents to free music streaming services. The gripe has long been about fair artist pay, with the band taking shots at YouTube and Spotify for making exorbitant amounts of money while giving musicians dismal cuts of profit. Now, however, the Keys have finally caved and made the majority of their discography available on Spotify.
(Read: Which Artists Are Still Holding Out on Streaming?)
Carney announced via Twitter that an agreement had been reached, noting that while he still isn’t a fan of the pay deals, “I’d rather people hear our music than not.” In a second tweet, he expounded, “No advance or money was exchanged. I’m still an advocate for artists to be paid fairly. I’m still apprehensive.”
As of now, 2011’s El Camino is the only Black Keys album not streaming on Spotify, though the album singles “Lonely Boy”, “Gold on the Ceiling”, and “Little Black Submarines” are. The availability of the band’s music goes down as another win for Spotify in 2016; back in November, the last hold outs of Radiohead’s discography were added to the streaming service. Your move, Taylor Swift.
