Marty Friedman, Renowned Guitarist, Criticizes Spotify CEO’s Assertion that Producing Music is Inexpensive
Ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman is ripping Spotify CEO Daniel Ek for saying the cost of making music nowadays is practically zilch … telling us that just proves Ek is clueless about the industry.
Daniel ruffled feathers among artists recently by declaring on social media, “Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content.”
Marty, who also jammed with Cacophony in the ’80s, is going scorched earth, telling TMZ … Daniel’s comment is one of the most moronic things he’s ever read, and it’s weird a CEO would say something so absolutely asinine.
Marty’s been making music since he was 14, and says he’s easily invested millions into the process throughout his career — plus, he knows others who have invested way more.
He would love to see the Spotify founder outline exactly how to create any music or content at all — much less quality content — without spending a cent. The veteran guitarist points out things like equipment, engineers and instruments just add up quickly.
While Marty does give Daniel some props for founding a platform that allows people to discover new music, he also says Spotify devalues music because it doesn’t pay artists well … creating a constant challenge for musicians to find ways to make money.
Bottom line for Marty … lots of folks say moronic stuff nowadays because they know it’s going to get more attention, and he’s putting Daniel squarely in that bucket.