ANOHNI has criticised the streaming service, saying, “The income streams of musicians have all been upstreamed into the pockets of computer corporations.”
In a new interview with The Creative Independent ANOHNI has hit out at streaming giants Apple Music and other streaming services. The artist argues that musicians are no longer able to monetise their output and has expressed regret at allowing the company to finance her video for Drone Bomb Me.
“I’m as guilty as the next person in having signed up for this,” she tells the interviewer. “The record companies can’t afford to advance the whole cost for making the record anymore, let alone pay for an ambitious video. So after a lot of hemming and hawing I agreed to work with Apple on the video. I wanted the video to have a wider reach, and only Apple could offer me the resources to do so.”
She goes on to call Apple Music “The McDonald’s of consumer high tech.” Before adding, “[Their] wealth was largely pilfered from what was once a biodiverse music industry.”
She also used the interview to rail against the streaming industry in general claiming that musicians are now, essentially, being bought and sold on the merits of their social media followings, saying, “Now we are being herded into all these shady situations. So, now, say the focus of your music is social justice—social justice becomes a big part of your ‘brand.’ As soon as you have enough followers, the corporations come knocking to rent out your brand, which they then turn around and use as a pheromone to sell their products. You use that money to make a music video and pay your recording costs.” Before talking about the branding and hyper-commercialisation of music in the digital era. “But now your record has a logo for Nike or Apple on the back.” She says, “Do we really want to front for these multinationals? It’s been such an insidious transfer of our agency.”
ANOHNI released her new album Hopelessness earlier this year, read our review here.