Radiohead’s Thom Yorke clashes with Moby over Spotify criticism

Yorke says: 'I am a 45 yr old Luddite and proud of it'

Radiohead and Atoms For Peace frontman Thom Yorke has clashed with Moby after the US artist criticised Yorke’s attacks on Spotify.

Moby labelled Yorke “an old guy yelling at fast trains”, during an interview with Mashable in which he discussed his recent partnership with file sharing site BitTorrent. During a wide ranging interview on the subject of music and technology, Moby said he was a supporter of Spotify and has even become involved in lobbying efforts to try and block Congress and the RIAA from penalising them.

Asked if Spotify is a sustainable model for artists and musicians, Moby said: “Artists who are adaptable are doing fine. A musician who makes records, tours, DJs, remixes, does music for video games and films is doing fine. If you can learn how to adapt — it’s really weird and unhealthy when people talk about restricting progress to accommodate the inability of people to adapt. Every industry has been impacted by [changes in technology] in both negative and positive ways, but I feel like to complain is pointless. I love Thom Yorke, but when I heard him complaining about Spotify, I’m like, ‘You’re just like an old guy yelling at fast trains.’ I love anything that enables people to have more music in their lives.”

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Yorke subsequently saw the comments in which he was criticised and tweeted the response, “I am a 45 yr old Luddite and proud of it.. yawn.” This prompted a further response from Moby, who also mentioned Talking Heads’ David Byrne, another vocal critic of streaming culture.

The comments follow Yorke’s decision, alongside producer Nigel Godrich, to remove the Atoms For Peace album they made together from the service while Yorke’s solo album ‘The Eraser’ was also removed. Godrich went on to explain his position criticising the low royalty rates paid to artists – who he said received “f*ck all” from the service.

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