Priest's Halford calls fairness in streaming deals

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has called for fairness to prevail in the battle over music streaming services in the music industry.

He believes firms like Spotify should rethink their relationship with artists – and hopes that common sense will prevail in the long term.

His comments come after figures showed that, for every €10 spent on streaming subscriptions, just 68c are paid directly to musicians.

Halford tells 3News: “The big ones like Spotify appreciate the position they’re in. They’ve got buckets of money. I think you’ve just got to be ‘fair’s fair’ here.

“Without us, you don’t have a streaming company – that’s it, plain and simple.”

He says the argument will play out the way the one over iTunes did in the last decade, adding: “It’s a struggle. It’s a battle. But I think the artists will prevail. I’m hoping we’ll see some common sense from Spotify and the others to make it all work for everybody.”

Meanwhile, Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has predicted the band will record a follow-up to last year’s Redeemer Of Souls. He tells Metal Hammer: “We’ve talked about doing another record – we think we’ve got another record in us. I know we’ve got loads of ideas kicking around. We’ve got the energy to do it, so watch this space.”