Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor jumped on an interview on the Steve-O’s Wild Ride! podcast, where he spoke about the current climate of streaming in the US, as well as Lars Ulrich’s saga with Napster.
While sharing his thoughts he rewinded back to the year 2000 when Lars Ulrich kicked up a pretty big (and warranted fuss) about streaming platform, Napster, as reported by NME.
Taylor said on the podcast, “I remember everyone giving him so much shit ’cause of that, and he was so right on so many fucking levels, dude.” He continued, “It’s scary. And I wonder how many people look back and eat a little crow because of that. ’Cause Ulrich knew, he knew that this was the direction we were going.”
On streaming in general, Taylor said, “It’s kind of weird, it’s kind of hard, because in this day and age, it’s really hard to know which ones of the fucking streaming services actually compensate the artists that they’re ripping off.”
He went on to say, “It’s more important for me that people listen to the music. At this point, I’ve kind of made peace with the fact that there are various services who are just kind of screwing us, and until the legislation is actually enforced, which they passed under Trump – which I couldn’t fucking believe – they’ll keep charging us at that rate. But they’ve appealed that legislation.”
“I don’t think the appeals will actually go through. They will raise the rates, and musicians will be able to make a living off their recordings again.”
When Ulrich took to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee to issue his complaint against Napster, he likened the platform to stealing from a record store and not being arrested. At the appeal, he said, “Napster hijacked our music without asking.”
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He continued, “They never sought our permission. Just like a carpenter who crafts a table gets to decide whether to keep it, sell it, or give it away, shouldn’t we have the same options? My band authored the music which is Napster‘s lifeblood. We should decide what happens to it, not Napster.”
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Watch the podcast episode below.
