Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said, "Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry" and the model "is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future."
Warner's shift could be a big blow to some music-streaming services. Warner's catalog includes artists REM, Death Cab for Cutie, Fall Out Boy, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Aretha Franklin, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, The Grateful Dead, Jay-Z, The Doobie Brothers, Freezepop, Garbage, Jimi Hendrix, Jet, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Metallica, Morrissey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frank Sinatra and numerous others.
Back in 2007, a DRM-free music e-tailer called AnywhereCD closed its doors mostly because it lost Warner Music Group content and couldn't entice its users to keep coming back for more without those important artists.