It seems Jay Z has found a business associate in Taylor Swift.
For, after blocking Spotify from placing her latest album on their streaming service, she has teamed up with Mr. Beyonce to upload her music on his streaming service.
More on the above, below…
Swift made headlines last year when it emerged that her brand new LP ‘1989’ would not be available to stream on Spotify, prompting the company’s CEO to issue the statement below.
You can’t look at Spotify in isolation — even though Taylor can pull her music off Spotify (where we license and pay for every song we’ve ever played), her songs are all over services and sites like YouTube and Soundcloud, where people can listen all they want for free.
Any way you cut it, one thing is clear — we’re paying an enormous amount of money to labels and publishers for distribution to artists and songwriters, and significantly more than any other streaming service.
Now it seems Swift has had a change of heart.
For, Jay Z’s new ‘TIDAL’ streaming service is now streaming all of her albums (save ‘1989′), doing so after he met with Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj to discuss and celebrate his recent purchase of the business.
Swift is yet to reveal why she’s thrown her support behind the Roc Nation mogul after blasting his rivals over at Spotify with this message, but is undoubtedly aware that placing her music on his service is just the kind of endorsement this rising platform needs.
It’s all business, competition is healthy.
This is ridiculous. Listen to a single 3 million times in a week contributing anything to the overall success of the album as a whole? Billboard is trying to kill the album format or what? The #1 album won’t be considered a great achievement in years to come if this continues. If you have one hit song, and it is streamed a lot, then it will make it look like the album is selling well. The album chart is supposed to reflect the relative performance of the album. The singles charts represent the performance of the singles. Now they are saying the album charts will be affected by singles and their performance on streaming.
*Listening to 1 song 15 times does not equal listening to 15 song. It is not a rocket science. Congratulations Billboard, this is the final nail in the coffin. I’m done with BB200.
Save the essays whorē, they don’t care billboard its all about MONEY.
Chart success these days is lame.
competition in your mom’s dry p*ssy.
no wonder music sucks so bad. it is all about money, popularity and ratings. i feel bad for the new generation.
ONLY CHEAP, WORKING CLASS AND UNEDUCATED H*** LOVE AND SUPPORT…STREAMING (BECAUSE THEY ARE LIVING AND DEPENDING ON THE FREE WI-FI)
😆 😆 😆
the new generation is a no-brainer and Billboard feeds the with garbage.
Streaming will kill CDs and it is very annoying because artist like Rihanna, Nicki and Ariana can go #1 on Billboard.
Say no!!!
Exactly.. Not everyone streams because they like the songs, nor does one song = whole album.
This destroys the album chart, since that is one of the only charts that measures success on the basis of the artists overall demand.
nicki and Rihanna been getting top 20 and to 10 hits way before this stream thing came out. so people making it seems like they getting hit are Riri getting #1 singles are albums because of streaming is bullsh!t.
im talking about BB200’s new rules…you stupid f*ck.
Ariana went to #1 for sales both times.
and yet sold 50k???
I’d be more impressed if they were joining forces to create a new chain of record stores. Streaming is what’s killing everything. Put your heads together to figure out a way to reinstate the importance of the physical CD instead of playing to people laziness with this music-killing streaming crap.
Soon a crappy artist will be able to debut at #1 without even having sold an album.
crappy artists have been topping bbh200 for years.
riri…how many number one albums?
The downfall of Billboard 200 is coming. 😀
it survived the digital age with people still predicting its downfall and still it stands, and guess what, most countries are following in its footsteps and combining streams in their charts
Then what…Facebook “likes” to measure popularity of artists like RITARDNNA, PARIAHNNA GRANDE AND BEYOTCHCE???
The downfall has already happened.
really? explain
You can now have the number one album without selling more than 15 units. You can now have 18 billion views on your video, sell less than 50k, and that same week be in the top 15 on the Hot 100.
you have just explained worse cases but still havent said how billboard has fallen, when its still the musical bible it has always been.
Also billboard was always an indicator to musical trends, not a sale tracker.
streaming is the world we live in. People dont want to spent money on an album when they only like one song off it. Spotify is actually a realistic way for artists to still make something off their music in this youtube era.
And please taylor just went for the bigger paycheck and name association. But she is still screwed him over by not releasing her current album on his site.
Even just in the short period that I’ve been living, I’ve gone from buying the Butterfly cassette tape, to buying the Charmbracelet CD, to downloading E=MC² on iTunes, to streaming Me I Am Mariah The Elusive Chanteuse on Spotify and etc. It just goes to show you that technology has pretty much DESTROYED music in every aspect; from the way artists chart and even as far as how they create music (digital tracks, studio modulated keys, multilayering, and pro tools compression over vocals). I really wish they found a way to shake things up to restore music sales and music in general, and that includes creating a Billboard digital chart. Still congrats to Jay-Z on his new business venture.
I just read your comment homie. I understand now, and I also totally agree with you. 🙂
read the first line of your original comment and tell me how im supposed to know you werent serious… Also can you honestly claim to have not streamed music and or downloaded it for free…if you cant then my original reply still stands
maybe you should have stucked to buying cd’s then you wouldnt be here complaining about the state of the music industry
Maybe you should take a elevator to hell instead of complaining about my comment.
truth hurts, you are as much at fault as the next guy, when you started buying digital copies artists turned to a more single based release and shorter albums to be able to appease you and still make some profit, when you started streaming…
THE REAL TRUTH is you’re obsession with my comment is sick. You don’t know what the f*** I buy and don’t buy. I used my fav bc her longevity allows her to be one of the FEW artists that had lived through the early 90’s to the Digital Age we now live in. How can you talk about singles and short albums when you’re a Navy member? Boy get your crybaby ass out of my reply box.
honey you brought up your buying habits yourself… And what does rihanna have to do with this but be included in the collective of artists adapting to the current music scene?
Yea ok. I see you’re too ignorant to realize that’s not my true buying habits, but an example of how music has changed. No one is complaining but YOU.
Wow, from reading the comments, everyone is on the same accord. But I have one question, what is streaming? I buy CDs so Idk?
Instead of buying a CD or even buying it on Amazon M**, iTunes, and etc., you pay $8 s month to listen to the album on Spotify or a similar platform; essentially, it is counted towards the artist’s sales even though the artist didn’t sell anything and most likely made less $10,000 after 3 million streams for his/her album or in certain cases, “hit song.”
Wow!right! 10,000? Smh. That’s messed up! Smh.
I know. Pharrell, Ed Sheeran, and etc. all are prime examples.
And I know I’m late as hell but I did not know that if you paid a fee monthly that it’s sites like that where you could listen to the album without really even buying? That’s like net flicks. Hmmmmmmmm. When I get my upgrade with Verizon this July, I might look into that. But of course for my favorite artists, i will GO and cop their albums. Lol
We live in an ever changing world either you adapt or you stay whining on a c list blog as if it will change anything
Lol! C-list? Why do you say?
B**** stfu, didn’t I drag your ass into oblivion yesterday on the Rihanna post.
Lol.
Well RIP Billboard.
Well good luck to Jays business, bye to credibilty and logic of billboard!
i dont see there really being a big difference between how billboard tracks its popular albums and singles… In the olden days one good song made you buy a whole album because the alternative was nothing…
What do you mean by the alternative is nothing?
if you wouldnt empty your pockets and buy the record there was no way for you to hear to the album.
Wow, that is so true! Damn, I miss those days. It’s really debatable with people saying now artist can eat without the illegal downloads but at the same time they’re getting less money. But I mean, like many others have said on here, it’s the times we’re in I guess.
What are you taking about, in the “olden days” 45’s/cassette and CD singles were available and albums still sold millions. People forget that the point of singles is to compel consumers to take an interest in the album so that they’ll eventually buy the whole thing. It wasn’t until the mid-late 90s that labels started withholding popular songs to force people to buy the full album. That practice only lasted 10 years at best. The problem now is that people are so used to streaming and digital downloads that they’ll literally stream or buy just about every track on the album, but still won’t buy the actual album. That’s crazy. The least they should do is make it so ONLY the official singles can be streamed or bought. Random album tracks should not be commercially available. If you want those, you should have to buy the album for them.
Lmao at olden days. You must be young.
Billboard has become a joke. It’s like a pacifist mother placating her fat bratty kid. Streaming only became “the way” because they allowed it and are basically making it the only way to do things. If music stores were still around and CD singles were still being released, I’d still be buying those. But I’m forced to bog down ram and harddrive space via streaming and downloads. They’ve become so passive in doing anything to placate what they think is how things are down when what they should really be doing is cracking the whip and telling people that if they want the music, then they better go get it. Or do they think that today’s pop stars wouldn’t inspire people to use up gas money driving to the store the way they used to.
you are delusional or misguided if you think a billboard dictates how music is consumed!
Technological advances brought the cd’s, the internet brought on the digital age and plain laziness and cheapness brought on streaming. All billboard and the record labels could do was adapt
The industry basically needs to figure out a way to shut streaming down because for as long as people can do it, they will and the business will continue to hemorrhage until it’s dead. Streaming and on-demand is too easy and easiness breeds lazy and jaded. Take away that option and force folks back to the store.
and while at it launch an internet attack on all pirating sites…wait is piratebay back up again?????
Pirating and illegal downloading was at an all time high when album sales were also at an all time high. Backstreet Boys, Shania, Britney, Nsync, etc., etc. were all going 10x platinum+ back in the days of Napster. They can’t stop thievery but what they’ve been doing is trying to kiss the butts of the would-be thieves hoping that they can compel them to be honest if they can make things as easy for them as possible.
The whole streaming thing is stupid and illogical. It should NOT count. Point blank period. I don’t care how popular it is. It is not real investment to an artist.
Death. People are complaining to much, streaming is not the cause of the fall of the music industry, it’s the record labels being cheap and lazy, and the artist being tacky and lackluster.
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1. If artist actually gave there artist decent promotional opportunities before and well after the release, then maybe they would do decent numbers.
2. Like I said earlier, competion is healthy, labels need to start battling it out. Have they’re biggest artist release in the same days. This will increase sales as people want their favs on top forcing them to go and buy it.
3. CDs aren’t dead, I believe Taylor Swifts album sold 45% physical copies. So labels need to start emphasizes physcial CDS (this goes into record labels being cheap)
4. To slow down illegal downloading, in fact Physical CDs should be released FIRST, then release it digitally, after a month of release THEN add it to spotify or other streaming services.
5. Quit forgetting to promote the album, many artist get Hot songs and ONLY promote that song instead of focusing on getting the GP involved with its album.
6. Billboard needs to stop kissing ass and lay down the law.
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streaming isn’t the only factor that goes into the fall of album sales its many things. Most people aren’t buying albums because they don’t care for the artist enough to buy their album, or mostly their adjust simply unaware they even have an album coming out and when the album do comes out all promo seems to just stop.
Also for the people trying to come for Rihanna needs to find a seat. Rihanna has been topping the billboard HOT 100 and her albums have been going platinum and selling 3-4 million WW. In fact she has only released ONE song since the streaming rules have been applied (which is FFS) and it haven’t even cracked the top 3 because songs but it’s SELLING. As its already platinum and has remained in the top 5 on iTunes since release. In fact if the streaming rules weren’t applied the song would of been top 3 already as Sugar by Maroon 5 is beating FFS currently by streams.
Tidal must have offered Taylor the right amount $$$$$
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Its all about the money, But I still dont see why people pay for these streaming services when YouTube is completely free to the public and unhindered by any third parties. It also contributes toward streaming songs success.
Only if the song is uploaded to the persons official YT channel.
Wow, I learned something knew today, Well anyway, YouTube wont be beat… And they better stand DOWN, Because YouTube is KING!!
New*
Tho I agree s good streaming shouldn’t count as albun sales, but it should as singles charting. They been counting radio hits for decade, streaming is just the new raido that you have control of.
.
And so what, who cares about Billboard. Music sales been dead, so they changed their rules to help them out the most, cause a #1 album with 13ķ of sales won’t turn heads.
The ladies probably made an investment into the product. Make a website and an app for every phone OS out there and it’ll be a hit.
It’s so shocking that the ones that are afraid of the streaming rules are the fans who stan for artists that cannot get a hit or chart high enough on the charts.
A lot of albums recently have tons of fillers and crappy tracks that could have been scrapped. A lot of the time these artists just put in work for singles but half ass everything else, for example Beyonce’s self titled. I think what they should do now is make an album filled with singles or more single worthy songs that will get streamed ..
cheap ho likes you…said???
But did I lie though? Most of the people do not listen to albums, especially if the artist is going to put in a lot of fillers it tarnishes the body of work
Beyonces self titled was great body of work. You can tell she put a lot of work into selecting each song. That was unnecessary.
Well good luck. But I’m more disenchanted with WHO and WHAT is available than I am in how it’s sold. I wouldn’t drive to the store to buy a physical copy of or use my phone/PC to download/stream about 90% of what’s out these days. The items on the menu suck more than the actual restaurants themselves.
I might be wrong, but Taylor only blocked 1989 from being steamed on Spotify. The article says all her music except 1989 will be on TIDAL. So its the same deal. I supported her decision because it worked. If you have the fans and good music, people will buy the full album. She took it off streaming and people brought the album. Streaming is not the only way to go. I wish more labels would do that. My Everything is one of the top streamed albums of the decade but it’s sales have overall been lackluster. I always wonder what they’d be like if she blocked streaming for it. Streaming devalues the music.
But we can’t hate Billboard. Billboard’s job is to assess what music is hot right now. If the general public listens to the majority of music through streaming, then Billboard must calculate that into their system. They don’t encourage or create trends, they just assess them. The BB200 ranks the hottest albums of the week. If 20 million people are streaming an album, then its clearly popular and should be at the top. You guys are trying to argue principal with something that is purely statistical.
If Billboard and the RIAA put their foot down and said that streaming (and digital downloads) would absolutely NOT be countered and that only physical sales would matter going forward, you can bet that labels would pull their artists off streaming sites immediately and would start pressing and shipping out CDs by the truckloads again. What I’m seeing now is a bunch of follow the leader and blame the other guy for why these “adjustments” are being made. Someone in authority has got to take a stand and reconsider what might help the business as a whole, even if it’s unpopular or inconvenient at that second. What they should do is give notice that by such and such day, all this Spotify/Youtube/streaming and “legal” downloading BS would cease to matter to give artists and labels prep time to do something else (like pushing CDs again.)
The bottom line is that SOMETHING needs to be done because the “new way” isn’t working. I hear all the time that the old model doesn’t work anymore, but hell the way the new model is set up will have the business of music dead in another 5 years.
those days- mariah, madonna, janet, mj sold millions and had lots of #1 albums from genuine sales not streaming…duh.
ONLY CHEAP, WORKING CLASS AND UNEDUCATED H*** LOVE AND SUPPORT…STREAMING (BECAUSE THEY ARE LIVING AND DEPENDING ON THE FREE WI-FI)
😆 😆 😆
This !!!!
They must be paying her more money since Tidal is $20 USD a month. Still that’s too much, and I pay $10 for Spotify Premium (however, when it comes to my own faves, I do buy their albums, sometimes on CD/digital and sometimes on vinyl).
Also you are delusional if you think there’s a conspiracy by the industry to kill CDs. That’s because they were charging more for an album on iTunes (especially for major releases) than a regular CD. They killed themselves with that and that’s the main reason illegal downloads rose while album sales continued to fall for the last decade. Spotify just accelerated the fall.
yeah but streaming didn’t make much profit for stream companies vs digital downloads.
google it…
I know that. But sales were already wayy down in 2014 even before the Billboard 200 included Spotify.
Streaming almost barely counts for albums, actually. The difference last week was that Madonna and Empire were EXTREMELY close in sales yet Madonna’s Spotify streams are tragic. Literally every other week the best selling album was also #1 on SPS. Only time I would agree with you is if every album had an effect like the one Uptown Funk! is doing to Mark Ronson’s album.
You dinosaurs hate everything about today and stay living in the past. I bet all of you complaining about low CD sales have at least an iPod and YouTube account that you use to listen to music and probably don’t buy whole albums yourselves, but you want everyone else to revert back to the 20th century. SMH
Stupid wannabes sold 20-50k 1st week and yet topped the albums chart with streaming?
That’s funny and lame. 🙁
Streaming has destroyed the album chart in the USA.
RIP.
Too many trolls on this post.