Former Police chief and musical experimenter Sting was interviewed by Betty Liu at Bloomberg. Sting said a few controversial things very casually. “I think the streaming model is a good one,” he professed, following that up by saying he supports the streaming services in “some ways” and that it’s “evolving.” But musicians “need to be paid.”
“I was interested in Taylor Swift’s stand because I thought it was a brave stand and she brought it into public debate,” Sting said. (Swift has withdrawn her music from streaming service Spotify to protest unfair payments to artists.) “Music is important to society,” Sting said, “and it mustn’t die out.” There’s a lot of trouble in the music business, but it comes as a surprise to learn that Sting believes music could be in danger of “dying out.” Sting said that what Swift did, like what Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel also did, was important. He wants to see how it evolves.
