When Spotify first introduced their own music streaming model, the market was still very different back then. But with more services now aggressively marketing themselves, and with pressure from record companies and high profile artists who have pulled out due to royalty issues, the powers that be are rethinking their previous hardline stance about who has access to their full catalog and offering more for premium users. Reports are saying that they are set for a sort-of reformatting of their premium content and it will start by early next year.
There are various theories as to what this change will entail. It will probably include paying subscribers only access to certain artists or new releases. It may also allow free users to just one or a few songs from a certain album and then if they want to listen to the entire release, they would have to upgrade to the paid tier. There are even rumors of a drastic move that will limit content just for paying subscribers. But the basic point of this reported change is to encourage current free users to switch to paid, especially if they’re already attached to Spotify as it is.
The music service has been under enormous pressure and scrutiny, which probably started when Taylor Swift publicly announced she was pulling out all her albums from their catalogue due to issues with how labels and artists are properly compensated. Universal Music Group, which actually owns a 5% stake in the company, has also been pressuring Spotify to be more aggressive in getting people to sign up for the paid service.
This news comes at a time when the “Big Three” of the music industry, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and yes, even Universal, have not signed their contract renewals, less than two months before the official renewal date of October 1. What’s more, one of their key negotiators, Ken Parks, has recently announced he’s leaving for the start-up Pluto TV. So the question now is should Spotify fans, both free and paid users, be worried?
VIA: Digital Music News
