KAMELOT Drummer Launches ROKK, A ‘Fair’ Streaming Service For Rock And Metal

KAMELOT drummer Alex Landenburg and MENTALIST guitarist Peter Moog have launched a new streaming service called ROKK.

ROKK is billing itself as “the first fair streaming service dedicated to rock and metal fans, with the aim of paying artists and bands more money for their streams.”

The two musicians say they “are taking matters into their own hands to finally change music streaming for the better.”

Landenburg explains: “The money of the rock and metal fans does not really go to the bands that they listen to; it goes somewhere else most of the time. We want to change that with ROKK.”

Moog adds: “Metalheads, united we can make a difference. Please join the ROKK revolution to make streaming fair for bands and artists.”

As part of ROKK‘s newly launched Indiegogo campaign, all backers will receive early access and have the chance to be among the first users of the service at a special discounted price.

ROKK is set to launch first in Europe on iOS/Android/web in January 2024, with North and South America, Japan and Australia to follow shortly after.

Many people still think Spotify doesn’t pay the artists who are featured on its platform fairly.

In recent years, Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek has been trying to defend the company’s payouts, telling CBS News in early 2023: “We don’t pay artists directly. [Artists] have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is we pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and don’t know what individual deals these artists may have.”

Two years ago, Spotify created a web site called Loud&Clear to clarify exactly who receives payments.

According to Forbes, “Spotify has been paying back nearly 70% of every dollar generated from music as royalties to rights holders who represent artists and songwriters. These organizations, which include independent distributors, publishers, performance rights organizations, record labels, and collecting societies, then pay the artists and songwriters based on their agreed terms.”

Spotify boasts 574 million monthly active users as of September 30. The number of people paying for Spotify Premium currently stands at 226 million.

In the third quarter of 2023, Spotify posted a rare quarterly profit of $33.88 million, a stark contrast to last year’s loss of $249.73 million.