Spotify has faced some heat from indie labels that weren’t happy with the service’s payoff, and the company is now responding with a statement about how it hopes to help the music industry.
Century Media, a heavy metal and hardcore label group, pulled out of Spotify this week “to protect the interests of their artists,” according to Hypebot.
“Spotify in its present shape and form isn’t the way forward,” Century Media said in a statement. “Physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active.”
Mode Records, a contemporary classical and jazz label, soon voiced its criticism as well in a blog post by label owner Brian Brandt. “If one cares about music, then you should support the artists and labels you like: buy a real CD, or buy the album or track from someone like iTunes,” he said. “While the major labels and pop music may be able to reap a real income stream from Spotify simply due to the sheer volume of streams, the Spotify model is not financially sustainable for any indie niche label.”
In its response, Spotify said it wants to provide a wide range of music for its users and it wants to get the music to fans legally.
“Spotify was launched out of a desire to develop a better, more convenient and legal alternative to music piracy,” the company said.
You can read the full rebuttal below:
We are sorry that Century Media have opted not to offer its music to their fans through Spotify. Spotify has one of the biggest music libraries in the world — of over 15 million tracks — and is committed to offering our users the widest possible selection of music across artists and genres from around the world.
Spotify was launched out of a desire to develop a better, more convenient and legal alternative to music piracy. Spotify now monetises an audience the large majority of whom were downloading illegally (and therefore not making any money for the industry) before Spotify was available.
Spotify is now generating serious revenues for rights holders; since our launch just three years ago, we have paid over $100 million to labels and publishers, who, in turn, pass this on to the artists, composers and authors they represent. Indeed, a top Swedish music executive was recently quoted as saying that Spotify is currently the biggest single revenue source for the music industry in Scandinavia.
Spotify is now also the second single largest source of digital music revenue for labels in Europe (IFPI, Apr 2011). Billboard reported in April that Spotify territories saw an average digital growth rate of 43% last year. By contrast, neighbouring countries (without Spotify) saw only 9.3% digital growth.
We are very proud of the positive contribution that Spotify makes towards growth in the music industry.
What do you think? Will Spotify save or doom indie labels?
More About: Century Media, Mode Records, music, spotifyFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:09:32 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/L_AMYW-kMcM/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/11/spotify-indie-labels/#comments
Century Media, a heavy metal and hardcore label group, pulled out of Spotify this week “to protect the interests of their artists,” according to Hypebot.
“Spotify in its present shape and form isn’t the way forward,” Century Media said in a statement. “Physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active.”
Mode Records, a contemporary classical and jazz label, soon voiced its criticism as well in a blog post by label owner Brian Brandt. “If one cares about music, then you should support the artists and labels you like: buy a real CD, or buy the album or track from someone like iTunes,” he said. “While the major labels and pop music may be able to reap a real income stream from Spotify simply due to the sheer volume of streams, the Spotify model is not financially sustainable for any indie niche label.”
In its response, Spotify said it wants to provide a wide range of music for its users and it wants to get the music to fans legally.
“Spotify was launched out of a desire to develop a better, more convenient and legal alternative to music piracy,” the company said.
You can read the full rebuttal below:
We are sorry that Century Media have opted not to offer its music to their fans through Spotify. Spotify has one of the biggest music libraries in the world — of over 15 million tracks — and is committed to offering our users the widest possible selection of music across artists and genres from around the world.
Spotify was launched out of a desire to develop a better, more convenient and legal alternative to music piracy. Spotify now monetises an audience the large majority of whom were downloading illegally (and therefore not making any money for the industry) before Spotify was available.
Spotify is now generating serious revenues for rights holders; since our launch just three years ago, we have paid over $100 million to labels and publishers, who, in turn, pass this on to the artists, composers and authors they represent. Indeed, a top Swedish music executive was recently quoted as saying that Spotify is currently the biggest single revenue source for the music industry in Scandinavia.
Spotify is now also the second single largest source of digital music revenue for labels in Europe (IFPI, Apr 2011). Billboard reported in April that Spotify territories saw an average digital growth rate of 43% last year. By contrast, neighbouring countries (without Spotify) saw only 9.3% digital growth.
We are very proud of the positive contribution that Spotify makes towards growth in the music industry.
What do you think? Will Spotify save or doom indie labels?
More About: Century Media, Mode Records, music, spotifyFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:09:32 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/L_AMYW-kMcM/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/11/spotify-indie-labels/#comments