Spotify is a source of music over 50 million people actively usetoday. Spotify allows users to listen to a variety of music while paying a very low monthly fee. This may sound great to our music-loving generation; however, several artists object to Spotify on the grounds that this cheap streaming music devalues their music.
One of the most recent and publicized controversies surrounds Taylor Swift and her disagreements with the company. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Swift’s record company, Big Machine Records, recently decided to take all of her music off of Spotify.
The record company did not warn the company or try to negotiate with them regarding her music according to multiple online reports. Swift fully supports this action, saying, “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.”
Frequent Spotify users may have taken notice of the playlists made concerning this debate. One of the playlists spells out, “Hey Taylor, we wanted to play your amazing love songs, and they’re not here right now. We want you back with us, and so do your fans,” using the titles of the songs.
One of Swift’s friends, Ed Sheeran, has an entirely different opinion about the subject. According to E Online, he has mentioned how Spotify can actually increase sales for lesser–known artists. Many students agree with Sheeran’s statement.
Pierson Crowder, junior mathematics major, said the unpredictability associated with Spotify’s music choices is ingenious in his opinion.
“I use Spotify to discover new artists that I normally would not pay to hear,” he said.
Swift is the third-highest paid female music artist in the world, and many disagree with her actions regarding Spotify.
Mary Emily Moore, sophomore whose major is undeclared, said Swift is being unreasonable with her decision to pull her songs off Spotify.
“I thoroughly enjoy Taylor’s music, but I do not think she made the right decision,” she said.
Many feel Taylor already makes enough money and should share her music with those who may not be able to afford it on iTunes or other music sites. However, Swift’s concern seems to focus on the value of her music rather than the amount of money she can make from it.
Spotify has retaliated by stating the fact much of the money it collects goes back to the artists themselves. Spotifiy was originally started in order to save artists from the negative effects of piracy.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said Spotify has repaid artists with $2 million of their total sales since the start of Spotify, according to “Time Magazine’s” website.
Kevin Ward, senior biochemistry major, said he fully supports Spotify.
“I agree with Spotify’s position on this subject because they are purely trying to support the music industry,” he said.
Many other artists have begun to voice their opinions regarding Spotify due to this recent controversy. Amanda Palmer, will.i.am, Pink Floyd and The Black Keys are only a few of the major musical artists to also take this stand against streaming music through services like Spotify.
The Black Keys are quoted as saying in Digital Media News, “For unknown bands and smaller bands, it’s a really good thing to get yourself out there. But for a band that makes a living selling music, streaming royalties are not at a point yet to be feasible for us.”
Whether one uses Spotify or not, this issue is a major debate in the music scene. Many people do not realize how prevalent these streaming sites are in their daily lives. Over 20,000 songs are added daily on Spotify. If more artists begin to take this stand against Spotify, the company may be on a declining slope. The Taylor Swift controversy may have sparked a fire in the music community.
