A number of artists have expressed worries about their streaming income, but Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall appears to be, ahem, holding back the fears. In an interview with Music Week, Hucknall said he was relaxed about the streaming market.
“We’ve gone through a period of great change and have heard a lot of doom and gloom about the future, but I see more people listening to music now than ever,” he said. “The more competition we have within streaming and YouTube, Spotify, Google and everything else, the more ability there is for artists and record companies to negotiate and get better deals for themselves, on the back of increasing popularity. It’s all got to be based on whether the music is popular or not.” In fairness, Hucknall can afford to be relaxed about streaming: at his stage of his career, ticket sales are a big earner – something that’s likely to be fuelled by streaming.
