Taylor Swift, Spotify '1989' Feud Getting Nastier: Harry Styles's Ex Says She "Didn't Like" Music Streaming Site!
Taylor Swift's feud with music streaming site Spotify has seemingly lasted longer than some of her relationships. In the latest round of back and forth between the music superstar and the company, Taylor says she gave Spotify a chance, but in the end, it wasn't her cup of tea.
"Well, they can still listen to my music if they get it on iTunes," the "Shake It Off" singer told TIME. "I'm always up for trying something. And I tried it and I didn't like the way it felt. I think there should be an inherent value placed on art. I didn't see that happening, perception-wise, when I put my music on Spotify."
According to the pop star, Spotify is part of the reason artists are losing money on their work, instead of reaping the rewards.
"Everybody's complaining about how music sales are shrinking, but nobody's changing the way they're doing things," she continued. "They keep running towards streaming, which is, for the most part, what has been shrinking the numbers of paid album sales. With Beats Music and Rhapsody you have to pay for a premium package in order to access my albums. And that places a perception of value on what I've created. On Spotify, they don't have any settings, or any kind of qualifications for who gets what music. I think that people should feel that there is a value to what musicians have created, and that's that."
Spotify, for their part, trumpeted their role in changing the face of the music industry.
As MStars News reported, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek came out against the notion his company gives away music free. He believes they are saving music, not devaluing it.
"Taylor Swift is absolutely right: music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. We started Spotify because we love music and piracy was killing it," he wrote in a blog post on his company's website. "So all the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time. Our whole reason for existence is to help fans find music and help artists connect with fans through a platform that protects them from piracy and pays them for their amazing work."
Whose side are you on: Taylor or Spotify?