EXCLUSIVE: White Lies on why Thom Yorke's wrong about Spotify

Earlier this month, Yorke controversially pulled some of his catalogue off Spotify, Tweeting that new acts '"get paid fuck all" by Spotify, which launched in Ireland last November.

Speaking exclusively to Hot Press, White Lies singer Harry McVeigh differed sharply with Yorke, saying the Swedish start-up needed to be given time to grow as a company. Ahead of the release of White Lies third LP, Big TV, he said the band, who in 2011 performed to 10,000 fans at London's Wembley Arena, were happy for their records to be on Spotify.

"It's not our job to sell our music," he reflects. "It's the job of our record label. If they don't have a problem with it, then neither do I. I don't have a problem with Spotify. I use it all the time. It's great. It's a fantastic means of absorbing new music - you can discover these really obscure records that normally you can't even buy. Also it's such early days for [music streaming]. It's only been around a couple of years. Neither side – advocates or defendants – knows where it's going."
Should Spotify's business model prove financially feasible in the long term, musicians stand to gain, he says.
"It could turn out to be a great deal for artists if it starts to earn lots of money. At the moment Spotify doesn't have nearly the number of users that iTunes has. I think that big record companies have the upper hand in their relationship. They can pull their music. If Spotify becomes massive and starts to earn big money, I'm sure the deal for artists will become better."
He adds that while no Irish dates have yet been confirmed the group can't wait to come back and play here. Read the full interview in a forthcoming edition of the magazine. Big TV is released next Friday.