Jason Aldean Agrees With Taylor Swift, Will Remove New Album From Spotify

Spotify just watched Taylor Swift, one of its most popular artists, withdraw her entire catalog, and now the record-setting Jason Aldean is also expected to opt out of the streaming service.

From The Tennessean: Joining Swift's ranks soon will be country superstar Jason Aldean, whose album "Old Boots, New Dirt" had the best-ever debut week for a country album on Spotify with more than 3.04 million streams. "Old Boots, New Dirt" is expected to be removed from Spotify, though the rest of Aldean's catalog will remain, according to his label.

While much of Aldean's catalog will likely remain, losing Aldean's most popular work will not bode well. Other prominent artists and labels in the industry are watching closely as they design future album release plans.

From Aldean's label president Jon Loba: "There is a premium for 'brand new' - movies, cars, clothes, everything else. Why we devalue music, I don't know. I understand five years down the road - potentially - there will be enough streaming revenue to balance it out. In the meantime, how much revenue are we giving away?"

Earlier this week, Swift pulled her music and offered the following explanation:

"If I had streamed the new album, it's impossible to try to speculate what would have happened," she said. "But all I can say is that music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment. And I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music. And I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free."

Swift is right; speculation is a bit futile at this stage. But things worked out pretty well...

Tags

Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift