Spotify has announced an agreement with Universal music that will give users a reason to pay for their music. This new partnership provides artists with the option of delaying the release of new albums to free users by two weeks. Essentially making the premium option far more attractive than it is now.
Daniel Ek, Chairman and CEO of Spotify, said, “we know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we’ve worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy. Starting today, Universal artists can choose to release new albums on premium only for two weeks, offering subscribers an earlier chance to explore the complete creative work, while the singles are available across Spotify for all our listeners to enjoy.”
Premium Spotify members are free to listen to music without ads; as well as enjoy the option to download music for offline play and full mobile app functionality. Despite this, the music streaming service, only about a third of its users actually paying for the service.
Getting more listeners on the premium plan is hopefully the first step towards Spotify improving conditions for the artists on its platform. Musicians often complain that they are not paid enough from music streaming services; a problem compounded by the difficulty in converting people to paid subscriptions.
Time exclusive releases are not new to streaming services either, but it is a better option than what is being attempted by Apple and Tidal. Spotify’s rivals have been throwing money at artists in an attempt to make certain albums platform exclusive.
[Source: Spotify]
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