Will Taylor Swift and Spotify Ever, Ever, Ever Get Back Together?
Spotify certainly hopes so. After being pressured publicly by Spotify to release her newest album, 1989, to streaming, Taylor Swift not only denied them the album, she removed her entire back catalogue of music from the platform. Some say it's a strategic business move, others say its a brash decision in a ploy to make more money – but no matter which side of that fence you stand on, this decision has sparked a conversation within and about the music industry that is worthy of significant consideration.
Swift wrote an op-ed, appearing the Wall Street Journal this past July sharing her thoughts on the music industry's current state. “Piracy, file sharing, and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently,” said Swift. “It’s my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”
Swift isn't the first artist to pull her music from streaming. Beyonce boldly made the move to keep her surprise album (dropped December 2013) off of Spotify to help drive sales – and that it did. In fact, it shattered the Apple iTunes record, selling 828,773 albums in three days time. Beyonce opted to leave her back catalogue in place on Spotify, but perhaps set the stage for more moves like Swift chose to make this week.
If more artists catch the buy-only bug, Spotify may needs to brace itself for more heartbreak, or change it's tune. Spotify released this statement, perhaps better regarded as a plea, in a desperate attempt to get Swift to reconsider:
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.
Whether or not Taylor will strike a deal with Spotify has yet to be determined, so until than, Spotify is attempting to ease it's woes and the woes of its users by with their curation of two new playlists – "Come Back, Taylor" and "What To Play While Taylor's Away."
At this rate, if Spotify is truly putting their best foot forward in their subliminal messaging, they better keep adding more songs to the latter playlist.
lol please check the website hypebot which would note that this article is sexist
Dear Sexist,
As a 25 year old woman, fan of Taylor Swift, supporter of her music, and buyer of her album who just so happened to write this piece, I do not believe that the aforementioned fact based article reflects any degree of sexism.
Taylor Swift left Spotify. Returning would be a reunion that Spotify is clearly hoping (or begging) for.
Thanks for your concern and for your clear class in choice of aliases.
Sincerely,
Laura Schneider
I don’t think it’s sexist at all, and am only following the logic of the website hypebot.com, who have determined that any headline which refers to breakups or relationships when discussing Taylor Swift is sexist: https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/11/amazing-sexist-spectacle-by-music-industry-insiders-and-journalists-as-taylor-swift-windows-album-on.html
I like your writing and this piece, though I am apparently sexist so you may want to keep that under wraps.
I feel where you’re coming from. But I think ‘sexist’ was just joking! Re: https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/11/amazing-sexist-spectacle-by-music-industry-insiders-and-journalists-as-taylor-swift-windows-album-on.html
Dear ‘Sexist’,
Thank you for your response. If you were joking, we should both just “shake it off”. If you were not, I do hope you now know that that was never and would never be my intention. The article you’re linking to is not mine, and therefore is expressing opinions other than my own. I sincerely appreciate your response and your commitment to accountability.
I hope you’ll continue reading and that you’ll continue to share your thoughts with us – perhaps in the future I’ll be able to address you by your name.
Thank you for reaching back out!
TAYLOR GREEDY SWIFT. Absolutely ridiculous move on her part. Lord knows she has enough money already and this is a disservice to her fans who are PAYING CUSTOMERS of Spotify. Spotify pays 70% of revenue back to the artists. SEVENTY PERCENT. DEAR LORD. This is the FUTURE of music – it is NOT an experiment, Taylor. I’d like to know who handles her PR because this is a disgrace for Taylor and her future sales. I refuse to buy ANYTHING related to Taylor Swift. No clothes, perfume, music – ANYTHING. I do not think you should have to PAY to appreciate ART. GOOD ART PAYS FOR ITSELF, TAYLOR! And your net worth isn’t good enough for you? You are actually cheating yourself out of more profit now because more people are going to download your music illegally. And I think they should! Your music is not as good as you think it is. Oh and have any artists followed you with this stupid move? NO… Get with the program. The damage is done and I’ve already formed my opinion of you as a greedy, selfish, money grubbing girl who can’t sing live WORTH A LICK. I mean honestly…your music is catchy and fun to listen to BUT GIRL YOU CANNOT SING LIVE. I have to turn the TV off every time I watch you. You say that people need to pay for art – NEWS FLASH YOUR MUSIC IS NOT ART. It is auto-tuned and over produced with no artistic value whatsoever. Aretha Franklin made art. Elvis Presley made art. Janis Joplin made art. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER MUSICIANS (Not that I am calling you a musician because honey you are NOT one) IN THIS WORLD that would love to have people listen to their music with no cost at all. Music is not about money, Taylor. You disgust me and I hope you realize how ridiculous you have made yourself look. People in the world, I ask you to really go back in history and look into REAL MUSICIANS. Let’s keep musician’s like Aretha, Elvis, and Janis ALIVE. They were true musicians that actually performed well live. Long live the king and REST IN PEACE Taylor Swift.
I also agree that Taylor swift is greedy seriously she has like 5 mansions what person needs 5. One is plenty enough not 2 or 3 one !!