Explaining why she took her music off Spotify, Taylor Swift said, “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.†Last night, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek rebutted by saying a bunch of words surrounding the figure “$6 million.†That’s how much payouts are on track for this year for a “top artist like Taylor Swift.†(You could fill a swimming pool with maple latte with that money, Tay.)
The main thrust of the post can be summarized by a quote from Quincy Jones, which Ek references: “Spotify is not the enemy; piracy is the enemy.†Ek continues, “Two numbers: Zero and Two Billion. Piracy doesn’t pay artists a penny — nothing, zilch, zero. Spotify has paid more than two billion dollars to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution to songwriters and recording artists.â€Â It does make sense, though it depends on how you see streaming: Is it an oasis, saving the music industry from the desert heat, or a vulture, making a living picking the remains off the industry’s already-dead corpse?