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Black Keys Refuse to Stream New Album

'El Camino' not available on Spotify, Rhapsody, other services

December 8, 2011 9:05 AM ET
The Black Keys
The Black Keys perform at the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Amaze 4G launch at Espace in New York City.
Roger Kisby/Getty Images

The Black Keys are withholding their new album, El Camino, from streaming services such as Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio. Other artists, including Coldplay and Mac Miller, have made similar moves with their latest releases, believing that such play-on-demand services cut into album sales.

However, these companies maintain that record sales actually increase through their subscribers, who seek out and purchase new music that they discover by streaming. Spotify, which claims it is now the second-largest source of digital music revenue for record companies in Europe, contends that artists and publishers have made considerable revenue from their service: $150 million in the three years since its launch.

By some industry calculations, a song must be streamed on such a service 100 times or more to generate the same profit that the artist would gain from the sale of one download.

Related
Black Keys Sue Bank for Using 'Tighten Up' Without Permission
Coldplay Won't Stream 'Mylo Xyloto'

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