Update 5/6 1:16 p.m. Eastern: Jonathan Prince, global head of communications and public policy at Spotify, gave the following statement to Pitchfork: "We love Radiohead, and we’re thrilled to have their great new single for all their fans to listen to."
Today, Radiohead debuted their new single "Burn the Witch" with a video that premiered on YouTube. Shortly afterwards, the song became available on Spotify, Tidal, and iTunes. For pretty much any other band, this wouldn't be notable: every day, artists premiere videos on YouTube and stream their new songs on Spotify. But given Thom Yorke's contentious relationships with both services, it's a bit of a surprise.
In 2013, Yorke compared YouTube and parent company Google to Nazi Germany. In an interview with an Italian paper, he said:
Also in 2013, Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich pulled their music from Spotify in protest of the streaming service's business model. "The reason is that new artists get paid fuck all with this model. It's an equation that just doesn't work," Godrich tweeted. "Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will not get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples," Yorke tweeted. Later, in an interview with a Mexican publication, Yorke called Spotify "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse."
"Burn the Witch" has been released through XL, who recently acquired the band's back catalog.
Upon the song's release, Spotify offered no comment on the song's availability, but they did tweet this:
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Pitchfork has also reached out to Radiohead's representatives, XL, and YouTube for comment.