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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