Jason Aldean: 'I pulled album from Spotify to support behind-the-scenes talent'

Country star Jason Aldean pulled his new album from music streaming service Spotify in a gesture of solidarity for unfairly compensated music producers, writers and engineers.

The Big Green Tractor hitmaker decided to remove his latest record, Old Boots, New Dirt, from the popular website on Monday (10Nov14) without giving fans an explanation.

He has now opened up about the difficult decision, insisting he did it in the interest of the team which helped put the record together.

A statement released to the Associated Press reads, "The debate the whole music industry is having on streaming is complicated, and while I'm definitely paying attention to the business side of things, I am first and foremost an artist.

"I'm an artist whose career has been built by the songwriters, publishers, producers and engineers that line Music Row in Nashville. What they do has value, and I want everyone who is involved in making my music to be paid fairly. This is about trying to do what is right for the people who have given me a great life.

"I don't know what the future holds or what my record label will ultimately decide to do with streaming partners, but for now, we made a mutual decision to hold my album back."

Aldean's sentiments echo those of Taylor Swift, who cited a similar reason for removing her entire back catalog from Spotify last week (ends09Nov14), insisting she is "not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music."

In addition to Swift and Aldean, fellow country singers Brantley Gilbert and Justin Moore have also removed their albums from Spotify.