Radiohead new album A Moon Shaped Pool streams everywhere but Spotify after 'last desperate fart' rant

Spotify is working to make the 11-track record available 'as soon as it can'

Jess Denham
Monday 09 May 2016 08:51 BST
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Radiohead publicly criticised Spotify in 2013 when Thom Yorke called it 'the last desperate fart of a dying corpse'
Radiohead publicly criticised Spotify in 2013 when Thom Yorke called it 'the last desperate fart of a dying corpse'

Radiohead’s new album has been available to stream but is notable in its absence from popular service Spotify.

A Moon Shaped Pool first appeared on Google Play on Sunday afternoon but was quickly taken down. Hours later, the 11-track follow-up to 2011’s King of Limbs was released on iTunes and the band’s official website, as well as streaming services Apple Music and Tidal.

Spotify is yet to receive the full album despite streaming new Radiohead songs “Burn the Witch” and “Daydreaming”.

Frontman Thom Yorke strongly criticised the service in 2013, describing it as the “last desperate fart of a dying corpse” in a widely-publicised rant about the state of the modern music industry. He called on fellow musicians to “fight the Spotify thing”, but it remains unknown whether his opinions are the reason behind A Moon Shaped Pool’s absence, particularly as much of Radiohead’s catalogue is available to stream.

“People continue to say that this is an era where music is free, cinema is free. It’s not true,” Yorke said at the time. “The creators of services make money – Google, YouTube. A huge amount of money, by trawling, like in the sea – they take everything there is. 'Oh, sorry, was that yours? Now it's ours. No, no, we're joking – it’s still yours.'

“They’ve seized control of it – it’s like what the Nazis did during the second world war. Actually, it’s like what everyone was doing during the war, even the English – stealing the art of other countries. What difference is there?”


Spotify has declined to comment on Radiohead’s decision to stream their ninth record on rival services. The company’s statement read: “Radiohead’s new singles ‘Burn the Witch’ and ‘Daydreaming’ are already available on Spotify and we look forward to making the rest of A Moon Shaped Pool available on Spotify as soon as we can.”

Spotify added that as of yet, there is no further comment on when the album might be made available.

A Moon Shaped Pool is set for physical release on Friday 17 June, with a special edition promising bonus tracks and 32 pages of artwork.

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