Björk: Spotify Is 'The Worst Thing' To Happen To Musicians

Björk has addressed the pressures of young artists making music in the era of Spotify, describing the streaming giant as “probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians.”

The Army Of Me singer discussed the impact of Spotify while promoting her new concert film, Apple Music Live: Björk, in an interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Outlining the privilege of not needing to rely on touring income to sustain her career and being in a place where she can focus on art, she said of her approach to recording new music: “For the seed to grow into a healthy and vigorous plant, you need privacy. You need a few years of no one knowing what you are doing, not even yourself.”

Adding that she’s focused on “getting out all the ideas I have inside me,” Björk said she was grateful not to need to rush and release “20 more albums” in the streaming era, keeping up with algorithms, media coverage, and short attention spans.

“I’m lucky because I no longer have to raise money on touring, which younger musicians are often forced to do,” Björk said. “In that respect, Spotify is probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians. The streaming culture has changed an entire society and an entire generation of artists.”

As Consequence Of Sound notes, Björk didn’t allow her 2015 album, Vulnicura, to immediately go on streaming.

She said at the time: “This streaming thing just does not feel right. 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… or the craft and the amount of work you put into it.”

In other recent Björk news, the singer recently participated in her first on-camera interview in a decade with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. You can check it out below.

Björk returned to Australia in March 2023 as part of the Perth Festival, exclusively premiering her Cornucopia show in WA.

Björk’s performances at the Perth Festival were based on her 2017 avant-garde album, Utopia, with an abundance of voices and flutes enveloped in an epic immersive multimedia experience. 

In September 2022, Björk released her tenth album, Fossora.