Thom Yorke took another swipe at Spotify this week, saying that we're seeing "the last gasp of the old industry" and that once it dies, "something else will happen". In other words, he's not happy about it and thinks Spotify needs to stop trying to be the "gatekeepers".
But Spotify thinks it's in line with the times, where access and discovery have become more important than ownership.
"To be fair to him, he's tried some really radical things with the release of his albums," Chris Maples, Europe VP of Spotify, told TechRadar. "I think people are perfectly entitled to their views"
However, Maples added that Spotify also "fully understand that the way people consume music and discover music has changed. They've definitely moved from a model of ownership to instant access and we're helping to drive that as well."
He went on: "The industry is difficult at the moment, though, and the world has shifted so much so people are figuring out the platforms and the ways that they interact with these platforms in order to get the best out of what they want as artists."
Knives out
According to Maples, the proof is in the pudding, and Spotify is serving up a sizable desert this year.
"By the end of this year we'll have given a billion dollars back to the record industry," he said. "We know what since we launched in Sweden five years ago... piracy has reduced by over 25% while Spotify has grown.
"We know that we're doing a good thing."
Yesterday Spotify announced its partnership with the new BBC Playlister service, which has gone live today.
