SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR Says Music Streaming Is 'Pricing Artists Out Of Careers'

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor has blasted Spotify for the the paltry payments the music streaming service pays out to music rightsholders.

This past January, the Copyright Royalty Board ruled the royalties songwriters receive from on-demand subscription streaming would jump 44 percent over the next five years. Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon — four of the major U.S. streaming services — later appealed the ruling, saying that it "harms music licensees and copyright owners."

After Nils Lofgren of Bruce Springsteen's E STREET BAND took to his Twitter on Saturday to complain about the fact that artists "simply don't get paid for [their] work" while Spotify is "worth billions," Corey responded: "No one points this out. And while Congress has passed legislation to right this wrong, almost all the streaming services are APPEALING, which means we STILL don't get paid for our work. But please people, by all means- stream away..."

Taylor went on to say that bands like SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR "HAVE to tour. It's the only way we can make a living. Merch helps, but the merch companies make the lion's share. Streaming is pricing artists- old AND new- out of careers."

Corey also clarified that he did not have a problem with streaming itself. "I don't care HOW people get the music," he said. "I care how the COMPANIES who provide it compensate the fuckin' people who made it in the first place."

According to Taylor, he still has enjoys performing live, but he would like to have more time to spend with his family. "We're constantly on the road… I have kids. I have a life," he said. "When am I supposed to get time for THEM?"

As for how he personally listens to music, Taylor said: "I buy albums, physically and on iTunes. I WILL say this: Apple Music is the ONLY streaming service that is NOT appealing the legislation. Thank you @AppleMusic"

When one fan implied that record contracts are ultimately to blame for how the artists get paid by streaming services like Spotify, Taylor replied: "All due respect, this isn't about contracts right now because they don't reflect the service righteously. And even if the streaming service pays the label, WE still don't get paid. This is about PUBLISHING. They're offering OUR work and not paying for it…. Because as long as the RECORD LABELS get THEIR money, they don't CARE if the ARTIST gets paid at ALL. Or who plays their music- unless it's a critic on @youtube THEN THEY'RE UP IN ARMS"

After another fan asked if there is one service that is better than others where fans can purchase music digitally, Taylor said: "Any service where you can buy the album, or songs at a time. Even buying a song singly makes us more than simply streaming it. The irony here is, if the streaming services adhered to the payment scale that Radio has to abide by, we'd all be paid fairly."

Taylor also addressed one fan's suggestion that bands like SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR "aren't gonna make royalties on Spotify" because they "play one of the least popular (nowadays) genres." The singer wrote: "All due respect, I simply do not believe the ‘rock and metal isn't popular' idea. Our shows are sold out, our numbers are just as high as anyone else's and we've been #1 every time. This isn't about popularity, because it happens in EVERY GENRE."

After another fan asked why he doesn't pull SLIPKNOT's music off the streaming services if he isn't being properly compensated, Taylor responded: "Because if you don't own your masters, you can do fuck all to stop what the labels do."

Back in 2015, Taylor said that record labels were continuing to lose the digital music battle or piracy war because they couldn't "catch up with the technology." He said during an appearance on the "Eddie Trunk Podcast": "On one hand, you've got people who are streaming, but then they use that to decide whether or not they wanna buy the album, as opposed to illegal downloading. But then there's the other side of it where people are kind of using it as, basically, satellite radio, where it's, like, 'I'm just gonna listen to this.' But people still pay a subscription for it. So, in one way or another, the economy is still working. It's just that… We can't catch up with the technology; that's the problem. There's so many innovations that the powers that be can't figure out… they can't get ahead of it."