When divulging into the group’s continued prominence in the metal scene, the conversation quickly transpired into the frontman’s perspective of music streaming services ruining the culture and consumption of music. Filth contextualised his opinion by referring to his own music collection and how much consumption had changed since the band’s emergence in 1991. The frontman stated: “Speaking for myself, I always saw radio the same way back in the 90s, and so I ended up amassing a personal collection of about 2000 CDs. And I miss the days when there were physical charts… But nowadays it’s like a fuc**ng free-for-all.”

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Filth’s comments also alerted to the ideal that consumption and streaming culture varied from genre to genre. In doing so, he admired consumers of metal for being “loyal” and avoiding streaming services, which has subsequently allowed the metal scene to remain “intact”.

It appears the ‘Nymphetamine Fix’ vocalist’s frustrations stem from the suspected underpaying of artists by streaming services, arguably devaluing their art and making music a financially insufficient career. Filth refers to the aftermath of the pandemic: “And I know so many people from big bands that since the pandemic have gone, ‘You know what, I’m taking a proper job. So you’ll see me less often, we’ll still be doing albums, but probably once every five years’. And it’s because, music it’s just seen like daylight robbery.”

He continued to argue that there’s a heightened entitlement when it comes to music that doesn’t exist with other commodities. Filth compared the culture surrounding streaming to an individual entering a supermarket and helping themselves to produce for free. Inferring the outrage that would rise out of this audacity wouldn’t be present when music is concerned as it isn’t physically perceived in the same way. Therefore, the lack of physicality in streaming music portrays the media as a free-for-all.

This isn’t the first time Daniel Lloyd Davey, known professionally as Dani Filth, has openly slammed music streaming platforms. Back in 2023, he referred to Spotify as “the biggest criminals in the world” over their monetary practices, after revealing Cradle of Filth had 26 million plays the year prior, while the frontman “got about 20 pounds”.

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Perhaps Filth isn’t the only person to share this mindset. After all, 2024 saw the first increase in physical music in 20 years.  The Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) found the consumption of CDs and vinyl were at a new high, following a new culture of collecting physical media.

Cradle of Filth will be touring the UK this summer, access tickets here. Pre-order ‘The Screaming of the Valkyries’ here.

Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani Filth said of the tour, “we are so looking forward to performing at all these extraordinary places on this tour – it will be our first time playing in Turkey, can you believe it?” In the company of two great bands – Wednesday 13 and Sick N’ Beautiful – the anticipation for some riotous performances is running very high across the Baltics, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. So prepare yourselves for a night never to be forgotten, one of maleficent spectacle and debauch! You have been warned! See you early next year fellow Filthlings.”

Notable for their shock rock stage presence, Cradle Of Filth have broken into more mainstream avenues in recent years, receiving attention from some of the scene’s most high profile outlets. With the release of 2021’s Existence Is Futile, the band have even begun to garner success-the likes of which was perhaps unreachable for an extreme metal act in years gone by. The album was also a critical and popular success for the band.

Cradle Of Filth’s inclusion of popular horror themed musician Wednesday 13 is sure to delight long time fans of both Cradle Of Filth and Wednesday 13’s former group Murderdolls which featured ex-Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. Wednesday 13 has stated he will be playing a selection of hits from the band’s debut album, Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls as well as a few selections off of the band’s final album Women And Children Last.

Speaking on the tour, Wednesday 13 said, “We are extremely excited to be hitting the road with our friends in Cradle Of Filth. We will be performing in places in Europe that we’ve never been or haven’t been to in quite some time. We can’t wait to see you all on this tour!”

Wednesday 13 released his album, Horrifier last October-his ninth studio effort since the disbandment of Murderdolls in 2004. Tickets for the tour can be found here. Existence Is Futile by Cradle Of Filth can be purchased here. Horrifier by Wednesday 13 can be purchased here.

10/02/2024 – Reading 3 – Tel Aviv, Israel
12/02 – B90 – Gdansk, Poland
13/02 – Loftas – Vilnius, Lithuania
14/02 – Melna Piektdiena – Riga, Latvia
16/02 – Pakkahuone – Tampere, Finland
17/02 -Rytmikorjaamo – Seinajoki, Finland
18/02 – Tavastia – Helsinki, Finland
20/02 – Helitehas – Talinn, Estonia
22/02 – Progresja – Warsaw, Poland
23/02 – Studio – Krakow, Poland
24/02 – Serikovka – Plzen, Czech Republic
25/02 – Fleda – Brno
27/02 – Form Space – Cluj, Romania
28/02 – Quantic Club – Bucharest, Romania
01/03 – IF Performance Hall Besiktas – Istanbul, Turkey
02/03 – Principal Club Theater – Thessaloniki, Greece
03/03 – Fuzz Club – Athens, Greece
05/03 – Club Joy Station – Sofia, Bulgaria
06/03 – Durer Kert – Budapest, Hungary
07/03 – Majestic Music Club – Bratislava, Slovakia
08/03 – Colosseum Club – Kosice, Slovakia

Cradle Of Filth’s Dani Filth: “Spotify are the biggest criminals in the world…we had 26 million plays last year and I got about 20 pounds” https://t.co/GHG2Pady5M

— Metal Hammer (@MetalHammer) June 19, 2023

Spotify has become the method of choice for many music listeners, as the app’s relative ease of access and low expense make it a preferable place to keep music collections close at hand. This has not however, prevented the company from drawing criticism- especially from bands concerning how the app pays musicians for their work and how it allegedly gives preferential treatment to AI generated songs.

Dani Filth is having none of it, citing the digital age for a lot of bands either not making it at all or succumbing to the pressures that streaming places on many. Speaking about the industry in the modern era, Filth said, “it’s been deteriorating ever since…I think 2006 was the year that everything swapped from being comfortable for musicians-well, not necessarily comfortable, it was never comfortable. But [it went to] just being a lot harder with the onset of the digital age, the onset of music streaming platforms that don’t pay anybody.”

Arguably, and Filth certainly does point out, that the music industry has never been a necessarily friendly place for musicians. Prior to the digital boom, record companies often found themselves on the sharp ends of artist’s opinions, with many musicians even opting to form their own independent labels over the past few decades, to give artists more creative control over their projects.

Filth particularly reserved ire for Spotify who he says cheats artists out of a wage, claiming, “I think we had 25, 26 million plays last year, and I think personally I got about 20 pounds, which is less than an hourly work rate…I think people just have this amazing ability to [believe] that when you have stuff out there, like physical product, that you’re earning a fortune from it. They don’t realise you have so many people taking pieces of the pie…”

He also argued his belief that the post-pandemic and cost of living crisis has deterred many bands from touring-the expense just not worth it. With the ability to download music, many artists face not getting paid for their work, or at least not what they may deserve.

Filth has certainly opened up the floor to an interesting debate and one that will surely rage on, with almost everyone involved having an opinion. With more and more musicians looking to maximise their worth, who can tell what the future holds for the industry.

Last year, Cradle of Filth released new song “She is a Fire,” in anticipation of the release of their live album Trouble and their Double Lives. The band are currently working on what will be their 14th studio album.

Directed by Vicente Cordero, the stunning video winds a haunting tale – sinister, alluring, and deadly. But he that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose… Infamous front-man Dani Filth stated: “This is yet another great video by director Vicente Cordero, encapsulating the occult essence of the song’s lyricism with great sweeping colourful strokes of total batshit-craziness.” Adding, “It really makes for frightening, yet strangely compelling viewing!” You can watch the video below.

The gates of hell opened once again in 2021, revealing CRADLE OF FILTH’s 13th manifesto Existence Is Futile. Pieced together in isolation at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins, the record is a pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal masterpiece, based around the concept of existentialism.

Diehard fans were thrilled to learn that horror icon Doug ‘Pinhead’ Bradley made a welcome return, lending his dulcet tones to the band’s most politically astute song to date, the epic “Suffer Our Dominion” as well as the album bonus track “Sisters Of The Mist“, which is the conclusion to the “Her Ghost In The Fog” trilogy, started over 20 years ago on the infamous and classic Midian.

Belched from Hell’s depths into the rustic charms of the Witch County, Suffolk, thirty long and disturbing years ago, CRADLE OF FILTH are undisputed giants of the heavy metal realm. Imperious purveyors of a perennially unique strain of dark, dastardly, and wilfully extreme metal, with deep roots in the worlds of gothic horror and occult curiosity, the band led by Dani Filth has weathered three decades of tumult and trial, earning a formidable reputation as both a singular creative force and one of the most riotously entertaining live bands the metal world has ever produced.

the band have also booked themselves for a lengthy US tour set to begin this May, and while there is not yet an official stint of dates here in the UK, the summer festival circuit may be able to satisfy your needs. With an appearance at Durham’s Dominion Festival on July 29^th, the tease of UK dates could reveal more soon. See here for full information on the band’s tour.

Photo Credit: Press Release