Streaming has quite literally changed the game.
And now the rules are shape-shifting too.
Head below for the latest on Spotify‘s major new move and the impact it could have on future releases.
Since its launch, Spotify has offered a paid service while also serving up a free tier. With the primary difference being that one features ads and the other doesn’t.
The strategy has worked handsomely, enabling the Swedish company to become the streaming market leader and a definitive power player in the music business.
Harnessing that clout, the tech giant has struck a new licensing deal with Universal Music that will now allow albums of UMG’s choosing to be made available only on the premium tier of Spotify for two-weeks. Thereafter, free users can listen too.
This, it’s believed, is designed to ramp up paid interaction on the service and ultimately heighten revenue for all involved.
It marks the first time the platform has effectively windowed releases.
Speaking on the landmark move, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a statement:
“We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we’ve worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy.”
Word is that Spotify will provide UMG with access to its data and the two forces will collaborate on marketing campaigns.
******************
The development is noteworthy on a number of fronts.
Some of music’s biggest names are housed under the UMG umbrella (such as Taylor Swift and Rihanna). As such, their future releases are likely to feature in this new roll-out system.
More than anything, it marks the next evolution in the streaming narrative.
The first seemed to center on which platform could one-up the other with “exclusives,” something now on the wane after UMG’s Lucian Grange announced a stop to the practice by any of his artists.
What we’re seeing now is individual platforms finding new ways to be both competitive and financially astute in an era where less and less are buying music. It’s a smart play.
![Did You Miss It? Erykah Badu Reflects on #Beyhive Attack After Claiming Beyonce Copied Her: "They Gon Tear Me Up [For Talking About This]"](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/beyhive-jay-z-beyonce-cowboy-carter-act-ii-thatgrapejuice-2024-erykah-badu-464x260.jpg "Did You Miss It? Erykah Badu Reflects on #Beyhive Attack After Claiming Beyonce Copied Her: \"They Gon Tear Me Up [For Talking About This]\".")
![Jimmy Fallon Announces NBC Christmas Special & Drops Star-Studded 'Holiday Seasoning' Album with Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Timberlake, & More [Stream]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/holiday-seasoning-megan-stallion-timberlake-grande-fallon-2024-trainor-464x260.jpg "Jimmy Fallon Announces NBC Christmas Special & Drops Star-Studded 'Holiday Seasoning' Album with Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Timberlake, & More [Stream].")
Wasn’t spotify against Frank Ocean’s exclusivity with Apple Music? And didn’t they refuse to promote/put albums/songs in their most popular playlists if they had exclusive deals with other platforms?
Damn not everyone listens to Spotify & all of these get rich type deals a lot of us still like to purchase the albums to have as well…
I’m a music buyer if I like it I’ll pay for it when I want to if I love it I will buy it when it’s released and if I love you that much I will even get a hard copy cd/ vinyl. These companies are cheating the music industry. Now they want to try and play fair.. smh
Rihanna is a flop anyway
Says a Monica Stan. The joke writes itself! ???
Thee IRONY seeing that you stan Monica
*crying* 199nica hasn’t had a platinum album in 14 years….. the nerve
SHE WENT GOLD JUST 7 YEARS AGO STAY PRESS H**
@SHANDY, Gold is 1/2 of Platinum…so your point is?…
the premium spotify allow you to skip more than 5 songs and listen as you want the song on the platform, the free spotify you basically go through many songs to actually hear what you want and you can only listened to it like just one per day !
If Rihanna is a flop, wtf is Monica? Lol
A flops saving grace.
All of this streaming crap is ridiculous. Why can’t we just stick with traditional sales. All this honestly is a mask for artists who flop.
Brandy and Monica haven’t been popping since 1999. They aren’t selling or streaming. Have a seat.
KANYE AINT BEEN POPPING SINCE BEFORE HE WAS IN THE SUNKEN PLACE B****
Girl please keep it cute, because you do not want me to drag that ugly ass flop you stan for. I mean your girl has now resorted to singing on SUBWAYS “And getting ignored in the process” ?
MY GIRL IS CURRENTLY ON HER THIRD TREK AS ROXIE HART IN THE TONY AWARD WINNING CHICAGO AND STILL BOOKING STAGES AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST. STAY PRESS BY THESE FAKE BRANDY AND MONICA STANS. 20+ YEARS AND THEY STILL RELEVANT H**
Girl bye. Wendy spilled her tea. Brandy’s ugly ass was begging for parts behind the scenes, and sucking d*** in the process. Remember when Fredo Star said “Her head game was weak” ?? I guess she has improved ?
NOT YOU FORGETTING TO CHANGE YOUR NAME TROLL. YOU AINT NO REAL BRANDY OR MONICA FAN H** YOU A HATER
Why is this person Trolling as a Brandy & Monica stan. I mean, what is your purpose of trying to get these girls dragged. It’s not cute by any means.
Hey, not everyone is going to have the premium Spotify account. I see this as a great way to have albums actual sales push their numbers and not simply streams, which cheats the system. Having people test out an album or song and not actually commit to it by buying it shouldn’t reflect chart position.
Here’s the thing with streaming: You only have to play 30 seconds of a song for it to count as a stream. 1500 streams count as 1 single purchase. 10 single purchases = 1 album purchase. If most people are just sampling songs for 30 seconds to see if they like it and then decide they don’t, a lot of these artists’ streaming numbers are probably inflated.
Stfu you ped.ophile.
It’s sad when mentally unstable people such as yourself infest websites like roaches and post wreckless comments that they would get knocked the f*ck out in person for making.
Did I lie though bit*h, no, so once again, stfu.
I really am so sick and tired of streaming services COMPLETELY! Streaming should not at all be included in chart positioning or equivalent hard sales. It’s a system designed to create smoke & mirrors for artists who simply do not push units. And an artist is FOOLISH to allow their record company to place their album solely on a streaming service for two weeks; creating a situation where a large majority of their fans do not have access and are not willing to subscribe to yet another service in order to acquire the album. If I were an artist in this present music climate, my album would be available at TARGET, WALMART, STARBUCKS, APPLE, SPOTIFY, AMAZON, TIDAL and everywhere else on the exact same day of my decided release. It makes no sense whatsoever for artists to continue shooting themselves in the back with all of these ridiculous, “two week” and “one week” exclusive deals. What happens is that one fan will pull the album from that “exclusive service”, put it online, and thousands of other potential buyers are simply downloading it for free as a result of being inpatient having to wait another two weeks for the album to be available elsewhere. NO!
Omg, yes!
I also hate when the track list isn’t that same for every provider. For example when Adele released “25” she released exclusive tracks for Target only.
I also hate this damn “Standard” vs “Deluxe” edition mess!
They need to make it fair across all platforms if they want to avoid pirating and isolating people who do actually want to buy music.
Y’all are so pressddtttt. Streaming is the future of the music industry. The rules on how steaming can count towards chart placement can be altered to be more reflective of an album’s popularity but streaming ain’t going nowhere. And if it keeps growing then traditional music sales are going to die completely…just like the vinyl and the cassette.
streaming has destroyed the music industry.
It actually saved it, but go on with your hate.