While many turn to Spotify to hear music from their favorite artists, not all musicians are in favor of the streaming service. Here are some of the artists who decided not to have their discography on Spotify and the reasons why:
Prince
Though the legendary musician's discography is currently in Spotify, his publisher removed his catalog back in 2015. Prince's music was not only removed in Spotify but in other streaming service as well. Fans can only stream his works from Google Play or Jay-Z's Tidal. When he was alive, he was skeptical about streaming saying that "no musician got rich off digital sales."
The Beatles
Besides Prince, another group of legendary musicians who did not have their catalog on Spotify is The Beatles. However, the reason behind it is not as aggressive as the late musician's. The band made an exclusive deal with Apple to only allow iTunes to have their music back in 2014.
They eventually released their catalog in Spotify and other music streaming services in December 2015. As expected, The Beatles broke streaming records for most simultaneous streams of all time. On Spotify alone, their songs reached up to over 250 million streams and still counting. Most of the listeners, about 79%, are new fans with some of them not even born during the height of the band's popularity.
Taylor Swift
One of the many popular musicians who was very vocal against Spotify besides Prince was Taylor Swift. While Prince was skeptical, Swift was more about putting value on art and music. She believes that these are valuable as well as rare, and what is valuable or rare should "be paid for."
"It is my opinion that music should not be free...I hope they (artists) don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art," she shared. Swift also criticized Apple Music for not paying enough royalties to artists.
In 2017, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and Taylor Swift managed to come to an agreement to bring her catalog back to the streaming service. The "Cardigan" artist also saw that streaming is growing and her fans wanted her catalog to be on Spotify.
Coldplay
The British rock band's fourth studio album Ghost Stories is nowhere to be found on Spotify. On top of that, Coldplay's previous album Mylo Xyloto was not made available on the streaming service until four months after release. The band is known for their "anti-free" stance regarding their music on Spotify, much like Taylor Swift. However, that does not mean they are against Spotify. With that being said, fans can find most of their albums on Apple Music instead.
Tool
The band's frontman Maynard James Keenan sarcastically shared in a written statement: "Our obsession with, and dream of, a world where BetaMax and Laser Disc rule has ended. Time for us to move on. But never fear. There's a brand new thing we think you're really gonna dig. It's called Digital Downloads and Streaming. Get ready for the future, folks!"
Albums from the rock band were not on Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music until August 2019. This they did before releasing their fifth studio album Fear Inoculum, which came at the end of August.
Adele
For the "Hello" singer, she is excited about the release day of any album. She added that she does not do streaming and she prefers to buy a physical copy. Adele believes that digital streaming is "disposable." She is also uncertain about the future of digital music and she "can't pledge allegiance" to something she does not know yet. Many fans were against it but she stands firm by her decision.
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