Spotify Punishing Artists Who Offer Apple Music Exclusives [Updated]

[Michael Scrip]

The contract is an agreement between the record company and the artist. Not all agreements stipulate an employer-employee relationship.

Sure... I didn't mean the artist is an actual employee of the label. My poor choice of words. Sorry.

The comment I was replying to said:

"I want to pay the artists outright... and pay nothing to the labels and publishers."

My point was... you can't exactly do that if the artist is signed to a label. The artist is under the label.

The label gets paid first and ends up making most of the money because that's how the relationship is set up. Then the artist gets a smaller amount of money.

Oh I agree... I wish the artists would make more money. But it's not up to them.

They signed a contract (sometimes barbaric) and the label gets most of the money.

If an artist wasn't on a label... they would likely get a lot more money. However... they would need to front all the money themselves just to get out there. Not many up-and-coming artists can do it.

It's funny... people have been complaining for years that labels are evil and they take all the artists' money.

And yet a thousand new artists will sign a contract with a label this year. Weird, huh.

 

[inkswamp]

True, but they need to be open about it.

Says who?

 

[maxsix]

as much as I love Spotify, if Apple decides to revoke the Spotify app from the App Store I would just laugh. Spotify is starting the be the a_hole/greedy company.

Yet it's Apple... that has always been the a_hole/greedy company.

Sadly it's Apple Devotees duped by the Cupertino Company that fail to see the consequences. The more Apple owns, the more control they have, the less choices we have. Once Apple owns it all, the Devotees will cry as Apple takes _all_ their money.

 

[Abazigal]

Yet it's Apple... that has always been the a_hole/greedy company.

Sadly it's Apple Devotees duped by the Cupertino Company that fail to see the consequences. The more Apple owns, the more control they have, the less choices we have. Once Apple owns it all, the Devotees will cry as Apple takes _all_ their money.

Apple has always been about a better user experience at the expense of control and options. That's what I pay Apple to do - give me an integrated computing experience which just works right out of the box.

I want Apple to own and rule over everything. And I will gladly accept all the consequences that come with it.

 

[maxsix]

Apple has always been about a better user experience at the expense of control and options. That's what I pay Apple to do - give me an integrated computing experience which just works right out of the box.

I want Apple to own and rule over everything. And I will gladly accept all the consequences that come with it.

Once upon a time Apple was the solution and it did "just work". But that was then and this is now. We have lots of solutions that just work today. Apple is but one of them.

 

[Abazigal]

Once upon a time Apple was the solution and it did "just work". But that was then and this is now. We have lots of solutions that just work today. Apple is but one of them.

And I have elected to throw in my lot with Apple.

Others are free to use whatever device or platform of their choice. I don't see how or why that should prevent me from wanting the Apple ecosystem to get even larger and all-encompassing, because at the end of the day, only Apple can give me the integration that I joined the Apple ecosystem for.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Are you suggesting that Madonna is going through bins/garbage cans to find food? I don't think those poor artists are actually slaving away, and if they do, so do many other people at work. Artists have to stop crying like babies, if art doesn't pay, get another job. Simples!

You really going to make an example out of literally one of the most popular artists ever? I'm saying the vast majority can't even begin to live off of the work they put into their music and with Spotify its even less than it was before.

The thing is that to make a good product it takes hours a day like as in 12 hours daily every day and if you're lucky you make a profit. I hear people complaining about quality. The truth is that if there is no money to be made the quality suffers as artists then go for the cheapest easiest thing to make them a buck rather than really putting the effort in. Exclusives in the way that Apple has currently structured them give the artists significant leverage and creative control to make a really good product while making some bucks instead of trying to generate label controlled radio hits to survive long enough to endlessly tour.

 

[johnnyinternets]

Apple has always been about a better user experience at the expense of control and options. That's what I pay Apple to do - give me an integrated computing experience which just works right out of the box.

I want Apple to own and rule over everything. And I will gladly accept all the consequences that come with it.

That last bit.......Just wow.......

 

[OllyW]

I want Apple to own and rule over everything. And I will gladly accept all the consequences that come with it.

Others are free to use whatever device or platform of their choice. I don't see how or why that should prevent me from wanting the Apple ecosystem to get even larger and all-encompassing, because at the end of the day, only Apple can give me the integration that I joined the Apple ecosystem for.

How would others be "free to use whatever device or platform of their choice" if your dream came true and Apple was the only option available?

 

[CFreymarc]

I want a price war.

In time.

 

[itsamacthing]

Been using Apple Music since it came out, but getting bored with the content.. just switched over to Spotify, might like it better. I can see how these two are going to be battling over this cash flow.

The other annoying thing is that Apple Music starts to play every time I get into my car, and I cannot set the default music player. Might need to buy a simple Android Phone just for music streaming inside my car...pathetic

 

[Phoenixx]

I don't agree with many of Apple's business practices, and was very sympathetic towards Spotify in the past, but they are clearly a company that has no idea how the business world works. Do they seriously think they are going to get the loyalty of artists and subscribers by behaving like a bunch of children? No wonder they STILL haven't become profitable.

 

[dannys1]

The other annoying thing is that Apple Music starts to play every time I get into my car, and I cannot set the default music player. Might need to buy a simple Android Phone just for music streaming inside my car...pathetic

The iPhone just plays whatever was playing last when it connects to bluetooth. That'll be Spotify if you were just streaming from it, or podcasts, apple music, anything - it'll even pick up embedded videos in Safari if you were watching them last and try to play them.

 

[Phoenixx]

Apple is notorious for punishing others. Ask any iOS developer. The even go so far as publicly stating they will punish you if your app gets rejected and you complain to the press.

They do the same thing with those producing content for iBooks. I had two published works on there. I wrote a bad review for El Capitain, and suddenly one of my iBooks, that had been there for nearly a year, was targeted for removal under a very dubious policy. They tried to say it wasn't long enough. When I asked for how long it needed to be THEY COULDN'T GIVE ME AN ANSWER!!! Then, shortly afterwards, when I told them I would be writing a formal letter of complaint, they closed the case and my other title was targeted under the same policy despite being over twice the length and having been on iBooks for even longer. I checked iBooks, and within minutes found multiple titles that were shorter than the first title. These days I don't produce ANY content for iBooks at all, and publish work exclusively on either my website or on Kindle. I have stopped ALL purchases from Apple (including hardware) other than the occasional one on iOS, and have gone from a long-term fanboy to a person who tolerates Apple at best, and despises them at worst. As far as I'm concerned, they showed me the kind of greedy, underhanded, money-grubbing, slime-balls they really are underneath all the marketing BS. It was a definite red-pill experience. I don't know if I will EVER buy another Apple product after the treatment they gave me.

Of course, what they never realised was that the two books I published on iBooks were an experiment in the first place to find out the viability and worth of publishing on the platform, that I am trained in the publishing industry at a post-graduate level, and that I have discussed my experiences with other professional publishers. Their poor treatment of me reached a long way beyond just one disgruntled self-publishing author.

 

[Abazigal]

They do the same thing with those producing content for iBooks. I had two published works on there. I wrote a bad review for El Capitain, and suddenly one of my iBooks was targeted for removal under a very dubious policy. They tried to say it wasn't long enough. When I asked for how long it needed to be THEY COULDN'T GIVE ME AN ANSWER!!! Then, shortly afterwards, when I told them I would be writing a formal letter of complaint they closed the case, and my other title was targeted under the same policy despite being over twice the length and having been on iBooks for several years. I checked iBooks, and within minutes found multiple titles that were shorter than the first title. These days I don't produce ANY content for iBooks at all, and publish all my work on either my website or on Kindle. I have stopped ALL purchases from Apple (including hardware) other than the occasional one on iOS, and have gone from fanboy to a person who tolerates Apple at best, and despises them at worst. As far as I'm concerned, they showed me the kind of greedy, money-grubbing, slime-balls they really are underneath all the marketing BS. I don't know if I will EVER buy another Apple product after the treatment they gave me.

Apple hasn't always enforced their policies consistently or transparently (eg: they targeted Pcalc for its calculator widget, while ignoring other apps which did the same thing), but how do you know that your issue was linked to your negative review?

 

[JAT]

I want a price war.

Spotify just dropped its family plan price to match Apple's, this summer.

Perhaps you didn't know this?

 

[StevieD100]

I think that Apple will get around the Likes of UMG stopping exclusives (perhaps there is some form of collusion between UMG and Spotify???) by getting the featured Artists to appear in TV commercials where they praise Apple Music.
Here in the UK we have a series of TV ads involving Kevin Bacon as the front man for the Mobile network 'EE'. I've just seen an ad where he announced the 6 months free Apple Music to EE customers. At the end he wants to stream some Brittney and she appears in the advert.
Not an exclusive but the next best thing.
The Ad aired at the end of the Belgium F1 Grand Prix on Channel 4.

 

[Michael Goff]

Well whatever, it used to be cheaper so it can go cheaper again. Price war please!

Spotify isn't even profitable at 9.99 a month. They'd go under.

 

[prusiner]

And I have elected to throw in my lot with Apple.

Others are free to use whatever device or platform of their choice. I don't see how or why that should prevent me from wanting the Apple ecosystem to get even larger and all-encompassing, because at the end of the day, only Apple can give me the integration that I joined the Apple ecosystem for.

If you like the scratching then you do not mind the lice...

 

[Abazigal]

If you like the scratching then you do not mind the lice...

It's more that the Apple ecosystem is still more suitable for me, and so I willingly put up with its flaws and quirks and idiosyncrasies because the pros continue to outweigh the cons by and large.

Opting for another ecosystem would simply mean trading one set of compromises for another, and I don't see myself being better off in the larger scheme of things.

 

[Plutonius]

Spotify just dropped its family plan price to match Apple's, this summer.

Perhaps you didn't know this?

Spotify might survive if they get rid of their free tier.

 

[mdlooker]

lol smh..

Artist - Why are most of my songs buried in country genre's when I rap
Spotify - Well according to our sources, you're from the country sooo

Petty

 

[DevNull0]

You really going to make an example out of literally one of the most popular artists ever? I'm saying the vast majority can't even begin to live off of the work they put into their music and with Spotify its even less than it was before.

The thing is that to make a good product it takes hours a day like as in 12 hours daily every day and if you're lucky you make a profit. I hear people complaining about quality.

But you are taking for granted that just because they want to call themselves and "artist" they deserve to make money at their craft.

I'm a photographer, I actually do have the skill and talent. I've sold studio work commercially, I've photographed weddings (which I hate), I've sold art prints of my work. And if you add up all the money I've made from it, it wouldn't even pay for my equipment (and I have single lights that cost more than your iPhone would unsubsidized). I have a day job that subsidizes my photography. MOST artists live that way.

What is it about the music industry that has people so confused. Why do you believe that because someone makes music others listen to, they deserves to make a good living off of it?

 

[skitidetdu]

I'm surprised they Spotify can get away with this since the major labels owns a part of the company

 

[StonewallBrown]

But you are taking for granted that just because they want to call themselves and "artist" they deserve to make money at their craft.

I'm a photographer, I actually do have the skill and talent. I've sold studio work commercially, I've photographed weddings (which I hate), I've sold art prints of my work. And if you add up all the money I've made from it, it wouldn't even pay for my equipment (and I have single lights that cost more than your iPhone would unsubsidized). I have a day job that subsidizes my photography. MOST artists live that way.

What is it about the music industry that has people so confused. Why do you believe that because someone makes music others listen to, they deserves to make a good living off of it?

I'm not disputing your account of artists, in regards to income. However, it sounds more like sour grapes, than an argument.