Written by: Alex Green

The compressed audio offerings of Spotify may or may not bother the ears of the layman, but for Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, the sound quality is intolerable.

In a conversation with New York Magazine about the availability of his old band’s albums on Spotfiy, Plant declared the streaming site’s sound quality to be, “…a hell of a compromise.”

He went on to say:  “I don’t champion too many things, but I do champion the sound of music…For example, with ‘Lullabye’… and the ‘Ceaseless Roar’ – never mind Zeppelin – I spent a lot of time making sure the vinyl sounds really good, so people have that option. But it is slightly heartbreaking to think that anything can be dismissed sonically and put to the sword by the confines digitalised, computerised sound reproduction. It’s hell.”

Plant isn’t the only musician to rail against Spotify and the overall quality of streaming music. Everyone from Tom Petty to Thom Yorke have publicly criticized compressed digital audio.

Last year, in an interview with the South American-based Pàgina/12, Beck said: “I think the saddest thing about streaming is…the issue of sound quality. I’ve spoken with many musicians and engineers who feel the experience is completely different. It’s like watching Citizen Kane on your phone…”