Spotify CEO Daniel Ek reveals that he personally spoke to Taylor Swift and made peace with the singer who declared war against free music streaming.
The 28-year-old pop star took a stand in 2014 and pulled out all her music from the online music platform. At the time, she argued that the popular streaming service, which offers a free tier to users who could not pay for a premium subscription, could hurt album sales.
Swift further explained that there should be a value placed on art and, therefore, music should not be free.
However, after a long and tough battle, the "Delicate" singer decided to return her music to Spotify last year, on the very day that Katy Perry released her new album Witness.
The singer's decision to finally embrace the world's largest music streaming site, despite its free tier, was made after a long and comprehensive conversation with her team, according to Ek.
Taylor Swift Embraces Streaming
"I should've done a much better job communicating this, so I take full ownership for that," Ek said about the previous war with Swift. "I went to Nashville many, many times to talk to [Swift's] team, spent more time explaining the model, why streaming mattered. And the great news is I think she saw how streaming was growing."
The Spotify boss was on CBS on Tuesday, April 3, to talk about the streaming service's continuous growth. This week, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
"I think she saw the fans were asking for it," he added. "So eventually when the new album came out, she came to Stockholm and spent some time there, figuring out a way that made sense for her."
.@Spotify CEO @eldsjal says he traveled many times to Nashville to talk to @TaylorSwift13 and her team about streaming and why it mattered. "I think she saw how streaming was growing. I think she saw that fans were asking for it." $SPOT pic.twitter.com/SS9WPTeV5O — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 3, 2018
Spotify At War With The Music Industry
Swift was not the only artist who has spoken against Spotify and its free tier.
Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke, has repeatedly voiced his concern over how the music streaming platform compensates artists. The 49-year-old once described Spotify as "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse."
Garth Brooks said he believes strongly in the album which is "a reflection of who the artist is at that time." His music is also not available on Apple Music nor iTunes, but he recently struck a deal with Amazon Music.
"The views they shared seemed to correlate with the views we shared," he said last year.
Spotify claims that it has paid over $10 billion in royalties to artists, labels, and publishers. However, the company remains to be in a constant war with the music industry.
In January, Wixen Music filed a lawsuit alleging that the online music streaming platform has been using thousands of songs without proper licensing. Last year, Spotify also settled a class action lawsuit by promising to set up a fund worth $43.4 million to compensate artists, songwriters, and publishers.
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