Radiohead's Philip Selway Discusses Future of Streaming Music in Part 2 of Talkhouse Podcast

Photo by Kevin Westenberg

Yesterday, the Talkhouse aired the first part of an in-depth conversation between Radiohead's Philip Selway and Ghostpoet (aka Obaro Ejimiwe), in which Selway discussed, among other things, the schedule for recording Radiohead's forthcoming album, as well as the band's early years. Now, the second part of their conversation is available as a 50-minute podcast (listen above).

During the conversation, recorded before Apple's decision to pay labels during its 90-day free trial, Selway says of streaming:

As a user, I love it. I’m listening to so much more music than I ever used to. That whole thing, the fact you can go and look at recommendations, look at other people’s playlists... Whether, in the long run, it can make a sustainable living for musicians, that’s another thing. Apple claim that they’re going to go there, which would be great. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the three months of free subscription, but there you go.

Asked whether he thinks streaming is the future of music consumption, Selway responds:

I do worry about how new artists can afford to tour. It is an expensive process. And that’s one of the areas where you really learn your craft. I suppose music’s muddled through for many decades, and it’s had its very greedy phases when it’s been able to change formats every decade and get everybody to pay double. This might just be wishful thinking, but people with talent and a good independent frame of mind will find ways of making it work for them. But also, it’s finding a fair deal within that. Because you can do all of that stuff as an artist, and think, okay, I have to look for ways I can make this work for me, as a living, and continue making music. There’s something slightly galling though, when you see someone creaming off a lot of money at some point in the equation. You hope the streaming model will redress that balance at some point.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Selway reveals that he's been listening to the "very clever" Holly Herndon, singer-songwriter Nadine Shah, and, on Thom Yorke's recommendation, Jeremiah Jae. 

Watch Philip Selway's video for "Around Again":

via Jazz Monroe