Taylor Swift has never been as vocal about her distaste for Spotify as Thom Yorke or your dad, who just can’t understand where gosh darned “Hey Jude” is, but she’s not exactly a fan, either. She initially refused to let 2012’s Red appear on the music streaming service before eventually relenting, and now we’re here again with her new album, 1989. Not only that, but Swift actually removed ALL her music.
It doesn’t appear that any of Swift’s songs are currently available on Spotify, and a Spotify spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that she removed all of her albums from the streaming service.
Artists don’t make nearly as much money putting their music on Spotify as they do selling digital albums and songs on services like iTunes. (Via)
Artists are paid about a penny per play, so it’s understandable why Swift, now arguably the world’s biggest pop star, doesn’t think it’s worth devaluing her music (she only does that in Diet Coke and Target commercials). Here’s how Spotify responded:
We love Taylor Swift, and our more than 40 million users love her even more – nearly 16 million of them have played her songs in the last 30 days, and she’s on over 19 million playlists.
We hope she’ll change her mind and join us in building a new music economy that works for everyone. We believe fans should be able to listen to music wherever and whenever they want, and that artists have an absolute right to be paid for their work and protected from piracy. That’s why we pay nearly 70% of our revenue back to the music community.
PS – Taylor, we were both young when we first saw you, but now there’s more than 40 million of us who want you to stay, stay, stay. It’s a love story, baby, just say, Yes. (Via)
In your eyes, Taylor Swift, the light, the streams…
