The public probably learned there s something called Spotify, and that it s not Pandora.
— Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, on what the public learned from Taylor Swift s decision to pull her music from the streaming service. Ek also tells Billboard Magazine that his company learned that it needs to do a better job of explaining to artists how streaming benefits them. The point that s been lost is that Spotify s the fastest-growing revenue source the industry has.
Last month, pop star Swift brought some unwanted attention to the streaming-music model by pulling her music from Spotify. She said she was taking a stand against free streaming, which she says exploits artists. Ek responded that Spotify has paid out billions of dollars to artists; that artists get royalties even when their music is streamed for free; and that many users of Spotify s free service eventually become paying subscribers.
Another point Ek uses in his defense of the streaming model: It s better than piracy.
I think people discount piracy, he told Billboard. We ve grown accustomed to it, so [we re] not really sure what we can do about it. But there s a billion people doing it. If they contribute to a legal service of any kind, that s a huge win.
