Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich took several albums off Spotify over the weekend — a move they describe as a "rebellion" against the streaming-music service for the way it pays artists. They publicly aired their criticisms on Twitter.

"Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will [not] get paid," Yorke said in one of the tweets. "Meanwhile, shareholders will shortly [be] rolling in it. Simples."

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At our request, Spotify swiftly responded in an email to Mashable about royalty payouts:

Spotify's goal is to grow a service which people love, ultimately want to pay for, and which will provide the financial support to the music industry necessary to invest in new talent and music. We want to help artists connect with their fans, find new audiences, grow their fan base and make a living from the music we all love. Right now we're still in the early stages of a long-term project that's already having a hugely positive effect on artists and new music. We've already paid US$500M to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach US$1bn. Much of this money is being invested in nurturing new talent and producing great new music. We're 100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their careers.

Artists, labels, distributors and other music rights holders earn royalties from Spotify based on the number of times users listen to their songs.

"For example, we will pay out approximately 2% of our gross royalties for an artist whose music represents approximately 2% of what our users stream," Spotify says on a Q&A page about its business model. "A popular song or album can generate far more revenue for an artist over time than it historically would have from upfront unit sales."

In January, The New York Times reported Spotify pays "0.5 to 0.7 cents a stream (or $5,000 to $7,000 per million plays) for its paid tier, and as much as 90% less for its free tier."

Other music companies have faced heavy criticisms, too, regarding claims that musicians make little or no money from streaming services. In response to royalty concerns, Pandora founder Tim Westergren late last year detailed the amounts certain artists make, saying "revenue stream is meaningful."

"For over two thousand artists, Pandora will pay over $10,000 dollars each over the next 12 months (including one of my favorites, the late jazz pianist Oscar Peterson), and for more than 800 we'll pay over $50,000, more than the income of the average American household," he said. "We're talking here about the very real possibility of creating, for the first time ever, an actual musicians middle class."

Regardless of these reassurances, Yorke and Godrich expressed the view that payment methods need to evolve. For now, Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, and the duo's Atoms for Peace's album, Amok, will no longer be available to stream on Spotify and Rdio. Godrich plans to also pull his band Ultraista's newest album. Here's a look at their thoughts on Twitter:

Anyway. Here's one. We're off of spotify.. Can't do that no more man.. Small meaningless rebellion. — nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013

Someone gotta say something. It's bad for new music.. — nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013

The reason is that new artists get paid fuck all with this model.. It's an equation that just doesn't work — nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013

Meanwhile small labels and new artists can't even keep their lights on. It's just not right — nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013

Plus people are scared to speak up or not take part as they are told they will lose invaluable exposure if they don't play ball. Meanwhile.. — nigel godrich (@nigelgod) July 14, 2013

Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples. — Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 14, 2013

“your small meaningless rebellion is only hurting your fans ... a drop in the bucket really” No we're standing up for our fellow musicians — Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 14, 2013

for me In Rainbows was a statement of trust .people still value new music ..that's all we'd like from Spotify. don't make us the target. — Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 15, 2013

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Image via Jim Dyson/Getty Images