Mumford & Sons vs TIDAL: new school plutocrats

Mumford & Sons have joined the ranks of artists critical of TIDAL in an interview with The Daily Beast.

Frankly, "critical" is a bit of an understatement as Marcus Mumford, while admitting that they weren't asked to join, stated that he would not have done so anyway. He said: "Bigger bands have other ways of making money, so I don't think you can complain. A band of our size shouldn't be complaining. And when they say it's artist-owned, it's owned by those rich, wealthy artists." 

The band's guitarist piled on, adding that the artists that 'co-own' the service are: “new school fucking plutocrats”. He stated: “We don’t want to be part of some Tidal ‘streaming revolution’ nor do we want to be Taylor Swift and be anti-it. I don’t understand her argument, either. The focus is slightly missed. Music is changing. It’s fucking changing. This is how people are going to listen to music now—streaming. So diversify as a band."

The band appeared to be frustrated by the criticisms waged against technology in general, and Mumford remarked even though the financial element is not there yet, technology has democratised music discover and small bands have the best opportunity ever to be heard.

The debate around TIDAL continues, and whilst there are those who see potential in the service and those who don't, it seems clear that the company could have started off on a much happier note if it had worked on its positioning and messaging with a little more care.

 (Andrea Leonelli)