She could be a newsmaker twice over.
Although Taylor Swift’s bad blood with with music-streaming service Spotify first began in November 2014 — when the pop star not only declined to made her new “1989” album available on but also pulled down her entire back catalog — the bad blood spilled over (and then some) into 2015.
Swift’s biggest issue with Spotify? She feels streaming services are degrading the already-downcast music industry, and take specific issue with the peanuts Spotify pays artists for each play.
Indeed, the kerfuffle wasn’t the first time Swift publicly opined on the subject of streaming. She wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in July 2014, calling herself “one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying … it’s just coming alive.”
The Swift/Spotify debate was reignited this summer when Swift announced via Twitter that “1989” would become available on the Apple Music streaming service. Swift had strongly objected to Apple’s policy of not paying artists for anything listened to during a consumer’s three-month trial period, and refused to make the album available on the service.
According to a Vanity Fair article, Swift reconciled with Apple via a personal missive she penned to the company. Swift minced no words in the article when it came to her opinion on the two services, praising Apple for its change of heart while sharply criticizing Spotify. “Apple treated me like I was a voice of a creative community that they actually cared about,” Swift said. “And I found it really ironic that the multibillion- dollar company reacted to criticism with humility, and the start-up with no cash flow reacted to criticism like a corporate machine.”
Swift solidified her commitment to Apple Music last week, announcing via Twitter that her “1989 World Tour Live” concert documentary would be available exclusively through Apple Music beginning Dec. 20.
Swift has not been the only star to shine the spotlight on problems with streaming: Adele refused to allow her new album, “25,” to be available on the service in November, and the Wall Street Journal said this month that Coldplay won’t permit its upcoming album to be immediately available. Neil Young, another TWICE Newsmaker of the Year, said in July he was pulling his entire catalog down from streaming platforms.
