“Spotify is probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians.” Despite new agreements between the world’s largest music label and one of the largest providers of music streaming services, the Icelandic artist’s words continue to ring true.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify have announced a new multi-year agreement that will usher in “the next era of streaming innovation.”
The deal between the world’s largest music label and one of the largest providers of music streaming services establishes a direct license between the two across multiple countries.
According to a joint statement, the agreement will focus on “growth, innovation and the advancement of artists’ and songwriters’ success” and enable the development of “new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content and a richer audio and visual content catalog.”
Spotify’s founder and CEO Daniel Ek stated that the partnership will promote innovation in the music industry, making subscriptions more appealing to a wider global audience.
“Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from these advancements, making music subscriptions even more valuable,” Ek said.
Indeed, in an effort to “advance the next era of streaming innovation”, UMG and Spotify are renewing their “commitment to artist-centric principles”, which includes “a mutually beneficial relationship for songwriters on the platform”.
Regarding artist revenues, the two companies are “ensuring that artists continue to be properly rewarded for the share of audience engagement that they drive and that their streaming royalties remain protected through the platform’s application of its fraud detection and enforcement systems.”
The news of this deal comes after Björk stated that Spotify “is probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians.”
Speaking to Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter, the Icelandic artist recently discussed her preference for creating new music over touring.
“The live part is, and always will be, a big part of what I do,” she said, adding: “I’m lucky because I no longer have to raise money on touring, which younger musicians are often forced to do.”
“In that respect,” she continued, “Spotify is probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians. The streaming culture has changed an entire society and an entire generation of artists.”
It isn’t the first time that Björk has been critical of streaming platforms, and even refused for her album ‘Vulnicura’ to be released on Spotify in 2015.
Many other artists have been critical of the streaming economy and how it continues to be incredibly harmful to artists, while streaming services (and CEOs) benefit massively.
Unlike physical sales or downloads, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays royalties based on the artist’s “market share”. The likes of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Taylor Swift have criticised this policy and have temporarily withdrawn their music from the service in the past.
Last year, Spotify announced record profits of more than €1billion, following staff being laid off (cutting down 17% of its work force) and subscription prices rising.
Forbes estimates Spotify’s Daniel Ek’s net worth at $7.4 billion.
Additional sources • Dagens Nyheter, NME, Forbes