Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth Slams Streaming Services: “If Bands Aren’t Paid, They’re Not Bands Anymore”

Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth isn’t planning on joining the Spotify wave anytime soon. In a recent interview with Sonic Perspectives, the extreme metal icon voiced his frustrations with streaming services, calling out the industry’s broken royalty system and its impact on musicians.

“I owe it to my brethren in metal and music not to have a fucking Spotify account because they don’t pay people. And it’s not just them—it’s just platforms in general. […] I’m old school. I want CDs, I want vinyl, I want my bands to be paid because if they’re not paid, they’re not bands anymore.”

Filth went on to highlight the struggle many artists face, revealing that some well-known musicians have been forced to take on “proper jobs” post-pandemic, leading to longer gaps between albums.

Drawing a comparison between music and other industries, Filth criticized the entitlement some listeners have when it comes to free access:

“If you owned a delicatessen or a fucking supermarket even, people aren’t allowed to just come in and help themselves to free produce, which is what people think they’re entitled to do with music. […] You can’t physically touch music, but how do you expect bands to survive without that?”

He also pointed out the stark contrast between how piracy is handled in the film industry versus the music business:

“In England, we used to have these adverts before the movie starts where ‘video piracy is killing the movie industry’ […] But not the same for music. […] Nowadays, it’s like a fucking free for all.”

Despite his frustrations with streaming, Filth had nothing but praise for the dedication of the metal scene, recognizing it as one of the most loyal fan bases when it comes to supporting bands through physical media:

“Yeah, people, they wear their hearts on their sleeves and wear the bands on their battle jackets. And they’ll go and buy the blood-splattered vinyl or the special edition, if there was one.”

Cradle of Filth’s new album, The Screaming of the Valkyries, is set for release on March 21st.

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