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Adult contemporary act Coldplay has delivered a bit of a blow to streaming services like Spotify and Rdio, prohibiting their new album “Mylo Xyloto” from being streaming on the popular services.
While one missing artist is not necessarily a dealbreaker for potential users, a trend of streaming-averse artists could put a significant crimp in adoption of the services. (For instance, another notable absence from Spotify is Adele, which along with Coldplay eliminates two of the year’s biggest albums.) The band’s official reasoning is that the album is meant to be heard in a straight block rather than as individual tracks, and CNET reports that unnamed EMI sources say the label is “a little embarrassed by the band’s decision.”
In a statement, Spotify commented:
“We have strong support from the music industry. We of course respect the decision of any artist who chooses not to have their music on Spotify for whatever reason. We do however hope that they will change their minds as we believe that the Spotify model is adding, and will continue to add, huge value to the music industry. Right now we have already convinced millions of consumers to pay for music again, and that they are generating real revenue for the music business.”
Rhapsody spokeswoman Jaimee Steele said:
“Artists are getting paid every time one of their tracks is being played. A download is sold and the revenue is distributed, but the artist doesn’t see any more money from future plays of that song. With streaming, if someone plays a song a million times, the artist will earn money from that.”
Will streaming eclipse sales as a profit center for artists in the very near future?
