Bjork won't stream breakup album

Bjork (above) has become the latest among the rare number of pop stars to refuse to stream an album, saying it was a matter of "respect" for artists. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bjork (above) has become the latest among the rare number of pop stars to refuse to stream an album, saying it was a matter of "respect" for artists. -- PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - Bjork has become the latest among the rare number of pop stars to refuse to stream an album, saying it was a matter of "respect" for artists.

Bjork in January suddenly put on sale a digital version of Vulnicura, a lush and emotionally intense work about the end of her long relationship with artist Matthew Barney, after the album leaked online.

But the Icelandic singer said she had no plans to put out Vulnicura, which had been due for release in March, on streaming sites such as Spotify.

Bjork said in an interview that it felt "insane" 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," she told the business publication Fast Company.

Bjork said that a better model may be to set a waiting period between albums' release and streaming. She cited as a potential model how streaming service Netflix handles major movies.

Despite Bjork's unease, the vast majority of her discography both as a solo artist and with her former band The Sugarcubes is available on Spotify and rivals such as Google Play.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift is the most prominent critic of Spotify. She pulled her catalog off the Swedish-founded site last year, saying that streaming was unfair to artists.

Spotify - which has both free and premium services - responded that it has provided US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) back to the music industry and offered a rare source of growth in a troubled business.

Bjork and Swift are both dominant forces in independent record companies, but most labels allow immediate streaming of albums.

Led Zeppelin, one longtime holdout, agreed in late 2013 to stream exclusively with Spotify but this week the British hard rock legends' music also began to appear on rivals such as Paris-based Deezer.

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