Irish music sensation, Hozier, who shot to global success with his mammoth hit, ‘Take Me to Church’, is being pulled off your favourite music streaming service. Ditto for Adele and many, many others.
Irish music sensation, Hozier, who shot to global success with his mammoth 
hit, ‘Take Me to Church’, is being pulled off your favourite music streaming service. Ditto for Adele and many, many others.
Sony is removing its catalogue from SoundCloud due to “a lack of monetization opportunities”, reports the Billboard. This means artists like Adele, Hozier and Kelly Clarkson will no longer be part of the streaming service.
In August 2014, SoundCloud launched its partner program, ‘On SoundCloud’, its first monetization effort. According to a statement on their website, SoundCloud paid over 1 million dollars to its partners including “labels, audio partners, and emerging artists”.
But Sony isn’t buying it. Now whether a compromise is reached between Sony and the streaming service remains to be seen but this isn’t the first time that a breakdown of this size has happened.
The digitization of music can have its own drawbacks. The battle between record labels and tech companies over revenue continues to make news across the globe.
Earlier this year, Grooveshark, the free music streaming service, which was launched in 2006, was shutdown after a court found it guilty of copyright infringement. However, the employees of Grooveshark have vowed to continue their mission, and a new site, although different than its predecessor, is already up.
The man of the moment: Hozier
Speaking of Hozier, the Irish singer-songwriter, followed and re
vered by fans around the world, is having his big moment. The 24-year-old musician had a great run at the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards, circa 2015, and picked up the coveted trophy for best song musically and lyrically.
In his acceptance speech, Hozier said, “It’s an honour to be in this room, sharing it with so many people who have shaped my life. This time last year I was completely unknown, a lot of this music was recorded in my attic.”
With that rich soulful voice, Hozier also picked up a Grammy nomination in the category of Song of the Year and lit the stage on fire with his majestic joint performance of ‘Take Me To Church/I Put A Spell On You’ with Annie Lenox earlier this year. With over 6 million hits on YouTube and appearances on SNL, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hozier is wowing fans, everywhere. Check out his Grammy performance to see the magic.
