Last month Bjork released her ninth studio album Vulnicura, but don’t expect to listen to it on Spotify anytime soon.
The Icelandic musician and composer calls the online streaming service “insane,” and in a new interview with Fast Company outlines some interesting ideas on what possibly can work for artists delivering new music to fans.
“[A] few months ago I emailed my manager and said, ‘Guess what? This streaming thing just does not feel right. I don’t know why, but it just seems insane,'” Bjork says. “To work on something for two or three years and then just, ‘Oh, here it is for free.’ It’s not about the money; it’s about respect, you know? Respect for the craft and the amount of work you put into it.”
One idea to combat Spotify streaming really jumps out as being simple, interesting, and straight-up intriguing: Netflix.
She adds: “But maybe Netflix is a good model. You go first to the cinema and after a while it will come on Netflix. Maybe that’s the way to go with streaming. It’s first physical and then maybe you can stream it later.”
It certainly would put an emphasis on purchasing new records like Vulnicura, while Bjork’s older works like Debut and Post can be heard online with easier access and availability via subscription and streaming services.
At the risk of contradicting Bjork’s feelings on streaming, here is Vulnicura in full via YouTube…