I sense a great disturbance in the betch force. Like millions of voices were crying out the lyrics to “Shake It Off,” and they were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. Sure enough, if you’re a Spotify user, it has. Taylor Swift pulled all her music from Spotify this morning with no explanation as to why.
In a statement, Spotify hopes that she will reconsider the decision:
“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.”
This comes the week after TayTay released her MONSTER album “1989,” which is on track to smash the record for most sales in a week by a solo female artist since Britney Spears’s “Oops!… I Did It Again” and Eminem’s record for most albums sold in a week, which Marshall Mathers has held since 2002’s “The Eminem Show.”
This recent news about Taylor Swift’s record label, Big Machine Records, could also be a factor. Big Machine, which also represents Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw, is eyeing a sale in excess of $200 million. Swift only has one studio album left with the label, and her family owns a piece of the label, so the owners of the label might think this is the time to take the money and run.
This Spotify move could be a way to drive up the sales and increase scarcity of the album to make the label a more attractive buy. It could also be a bit of a corporate power play–“1989”, along with the rest of Taylor Swift’s music, is available on Google Play and Pandora, as well as iTunes, iTunes Radio, and Beats Music, a Spotify rival recently acquired by Apple.
Swift also allegedly doesn’t like streaming services, as she told NPR last week:
“Well I truly believe in the album. I understand that the industry’s changing and a lot of people are streaming. However, there are a lot of people who aren’t, which is what this release reflects.”
I’m sure Spotify is desperate for her to come back. According to Spotify, 16 million of its users played her songs in the last 30 days, and her songs appear on 19 million playlists.
Spotify even created a “come back, Taylor” playlist.
This isn’t the first artist to publicly feud with Spotify over fees lately. Jimmy Buffett did the same thing a few weeks ago, straight up asking the CEO of Spotify for more money.
I hope these two lovebirds work out their differences soon..
[via CNN Money]
Image via Instagram
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Stefon
New York's Hottest Club is wherever I am. Haters to the front, hunky Sailors to the back. Bow down betches. Follow this bitch on Twitter @StefonTSM [email protected]
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