Taylor Swift Doesnt Want Me To Listen To Her New Album On Spotify. Not So Swift.
I love streaming music and Im an avid user of Spotify for this purpose. I was pretty delighted when I saw that Taylor Swifts new album Red was available for listening when I opened up the app. I listened to the whole album, and I gotta tell yaits pretty damn good. But then something happened, it disappeared. And then it came back. Then went away again.
Apparently, Taylor Swift doesnt want us listening to her new album on any subscription service, according to Billboard.
Heres what Billboard reported on the subject:
Red is not likely to be available at subscription services until Swifts next album is released, according to a source familiar with the labels strategy with her previous releases. Instead, the focus for Red is a mountain of retail campaigns and promotions at both well-known CD sellers and non-traditional retailers.
Well thats just flat out stupid, Ms. Swift. I know that youre a celebrity-sup! er-star who can sell billions of albums with the flick of a wrist, but you are seriously missing out on a music model that is literally changing the way that the business is done. There are so many reasons why I can rip apart the argument that you shouldnt give your music away for free, which is completely invalid. So lets do that quickly, shall we?
DistributionIn a new way
Look, I like the new album by Swift, so much so that I started sharing a track on Twitterand Facebookand SMS. Like a lot. People were shocked that I liked this new album, and thats the type of distribution that every artist needs. Im not stealing her music, I pay for a service and I stream the songs on my mobile and desktop devices. Thats it. And I dug the musicso I shared it.
Whats so wrong with that? A lot apparently, because artists dont want to play along.
What I did above is stealing according to Swift, basically. Im apparently taking big money away from her and her new album release. Yeah, not really. Sure, Swift doesnt need my distribution:
Red sold 262,000 units at iTunes on Monday thats more than most albums sell in all formats at all retailers in an entire week and is projected to top a million in first-week sales.
But does it really hurt? No.
Being Cool
Nobody likes a wet napkin, and this is what artists who are against streaming look like. I dont use Napster anymore, and I dont even know if it is alive, but If it was hypothetically, I would probably download Red, hypothetically, for nothing. Just out of spite. But I wont. Maybe. But not.
Seriously though, since the album is so good, it makes me want to share it, and maybe, just maybe, catch one of her upcoming shows. Its that good. But not now. Why would I shell out a bunch of bucks ! to see an! artist that doesnt want to connect with me and her other would-be fans? Does she have enough fans? Nobody ever has enough fans, since weve all seen the rise and fall of many artists.
What does it hurt to be cool and share a bit? Nobody is stealing. I mean, check out the stuff that I share on the daily:
Have you ever heard of Joe Purdy before? Probably not, but you should listen, hes awesomeand cool.
The tide is already turning
The iTunes model will probably be around for a long time, but Apple is already getting nervous. In fact, Facebook and Spotify are Apples worst nightmare, as Ive said before.
People will indeed pay for music, theyll even drop $100 to see artists live, but when it comes to accessibility, fans are starting to get smarter. They want their music on demand, th! ey want t! o listen to it on all devices, and services like Spotify allow for that. Why so serious, Taylor Swift? Have you ever even used Spotify? Its pretty great, take a look.
Things need to change, because people want to stream. If you dont believe what Im saying, or disagree, check out this solid piece by BuzzFeed on the state of the music industry. Shit, Ill even show you this infographic, and we all know how correct they are:
Think about it Ms. Swift. Ill be waiting. On Spotify.
[Photo credit: Hunter Walk]
Spotify has created a lightweight software application that allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums with virtually no buffering delay. It was launched in the fall of 2008 and had approximately 10 million users by September 2010. Spotify offers streaming music from major and independent record labels including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal. Users download Spotify and then log onto their service enabling the on-demand streaming of music. Music can be browsed by artist, album, record...
